CID to probe reports of fake Jan Dhan Yojana appointments

Odisha has asked the state CID to probe reports of fraudulent offers of appointment under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana to a few unsuspecting people in the state.

Following complaints from the public that appointment letters were being issued for working as customer care executives in PMJDY, the state finance department asked the CID to probe the matter. Director of institutional finance in the state finance department has already apprised the state CID chief about the matter.

State finance department officials said earlier this month that a few people had received a phone call and then appointment letters from a Delhi-based person named Sanjay Tripathy, who claimed he was a “director”. They were told they had been appointed as customer care executives.

Narayan Sethi, who works in a hotel in Paradip town of Jagatsinghpur district, received a call and then an appointment letter on a letterhead with the government logo and PMJDY written on it.

Sethi was asked to deposit Rs 13,950 in a bank account of Punjab National Bank as security deposit following which he was offered a position of customer care executive in PMJDY with a monthly salary of Rs 30,500 and an annual hike of 50 per cent. The offer of appointment also said PMJDY was a “Make in India” effort and the centres have opened in several cities of the country, including Bhubaneswar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Ranchi, Raipur, Nadia and Darjeeling.

“I was told the security deposit was only towards provision of a laptop, mobile and government software,” said Sethi, who did not deposit the amount in the account after he checked online and found out the truth. “I was surprised to see the letter of appointment reach me a few days after the telephone call. The letter asked me to report for training by May 18. It was too good to be true as I had not appeared for any interview,” he said.

However, some other people deposited the money. The state government has asked the bank to monitor the account. CID sources said a team of officials would soon be formed to start a probe.

Till the end of last month, about 52 lakh new bank accounts were opened in Odisha under PMJDY.

Source:: Indian Express