Odisha deploys dead officer for crowd management ahead of PM Modi’s visit

The Odisha government’s list of officers deployed on crowd management duties ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state sparked controversy after it included the name of a deceased Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer. The state government mistakenly mentioned late Prabodha Kumar Rout’s name on the list of officers deployed on duties during PM Modi’s visit, reported Times of India.
After the erroneous list received attention on social media, the government quickly corrected its mistake and withdrew it. Later, the government replaced Rout’s name with Subrat Kumar Jena, a land officer at Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation, reported Times of India, citing Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja.
However, the major goof-up on crowd management duties sparked a massive uproar on social media. An opposition leader also questioned the security management before PM Modi’s visit. Criticising the government’s order, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) social media head Swayam Prakash Mohapatra called the mistake a “strange situation”.
“A very strange situation, a strange regime is going on. An officer, who has been dead a year ago has been given the charge of crowd control during the Prime Minister’s visit,” HT quoted Mohapatra as saying in a post on X.
PM Modi will visit Odisha on September 17 to launch ‘SUBHADRA’, the state government’s flagship scheme, in Bhubaneswar. The women-centric initiative was one of the major election promises of the BJP before the elections.
Under this scheme, all eligible women between the ages of 21 and 60 would receive ₹50,000 over five years, from 2024-25 to 2028-29.
“An amount of ₹10,000/- per annum in two equal instalments will be credited directly to the beneficiary’s Aadhaar-enabled and DBT-enabled bank account. On this historic occasion, the Prime Minister would initiate the fund transfer into the bank accounts of more than 10 lakh women,” the PMO said.
During the program, the prime minister will release the 1st installment of assistance to nearly 13 lakh beneficiaries under PMAY-G of around 14 states and hand over keys of houses to beneficiaries Pradhan Mantri 
ter will release the 1st instalment of assistance to nearly 13 lakh beneficiaries under PMAY-G of around 14 states. The Griha Pravesh celebrations for 26 lakh beneficiaries of PMAY (Gramin and Urban) scheme.