Orissa forest officer gets rap for advising Andhra firm

A 1983-batch Indian Forest Service officer,who till last year served as additional resident commissioner of Orissa in Delhi,has been reprimanded by the state forest department

A 1983-batch Indian Forest Service officer,who till last year served as additional resident commissioner of Orissa in Delhi,has been reprimanded by the state forest department over providing advice to an Andhra Pradesh-based carbon trading company.

The state forest department,in a letter to Masabathula Satyanarayana,has cautioned him against providing any technical advice to Veda Climate Change Solutions Limited and an NGO Veda Mutually-Aided Cooperative Society even in honorary capacity.

You had provided advice on forestry matters to Veda MACS and Veda Climate Change Solutions Ltd in honorary capacity in spare time for projects that benefited small farmers. As an All India Service officer,your association with a private limited company without the approval of the government was highly irregular as per rule 113 of AIS Conduct Rules,1968. You are cautioned not to commit such type of irregularity in future, the state forest department said in its letter to the 55-year-old officer. You are further required to furnish a declaration in support of non-receipt of any financial support,remuneration,allowances or any financial reimbursement from Veda MACS and VCCL.

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The Indian Express has obtained a copy of the letter

Satyanarayanas name,his photograph as honorary advisor and a small note describing him as an expert on carbon trading appears on the Veda Carbon Trading Limiteds website.

State forest secretary Rajkumar Sharma confirmed the officer has been warned,but refused to say anything further. But another senior official of the department said Satyanarayana was let off after he said he did not accept any monetary benefits. We got to know about his association with that NGO and the company last year when a letter came to him addressed as honorary advisor of Veda Carbon Trading Limited. He should have taken permission. Even otherwise his expertise in the matters of carbon trading should have benefited Orissa government and not some NGO or private company, the official said.

Satyanarayana told The Indian Express that he is no longer associated with the NGO.