Hundreds of activists of Kalinga Sena on Sunday staged a gherao of the Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC) office, alleging large-scale irregularities and corruption in a CCTV installation tender.
Led by the organisation’s president Hemant Rath, the protesters demanded the arrest of officials involved in the alleged scam.
According to Rath, OCAC had floated a tender for installing CCTV cameras in four universities — Bani Vihar (Utkal University), Rama Devi Women’s University, Manikeswari University and Sambalpur University — at an estimated cost of around ₹24 crore. He alleged that the rates were nearly doubled to approximately ₹47 crore to favour a specific organisation.
Rath claimed that OCAC authorities had retained the power to alter tender conditions, which was deliberately used to facilitate the alleged corruption. He further accused senior officials of the IT Department, Higher Education Department and OCAC of colluding in a conspiracy to award the contract to a chosen firm.
Kalinga Sena said it had earlier lodged a complaint with the Enforcement Directorate (ED), but the government remained silent, prompting the protest. The organisation warned that if the authorities continued to ignore the issue and failed to arrest the officials involved, it would approach the courts.
Among those who participated in the demonstration were Kalinga Sena’s Vice-President Purna Chandra Sahu, General Secretary Bijay Raj, Sanjay Pradhan, Ashok Sahu, Monalisha Biswal, Runu Sahu, Ananta Mohanty, Mamuni Sahu and several other activists.
