Bhubaneswar, Jan 2 (IANS) Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday advised the Vigilance Department to continue its drive against corruption, asserting that the time has come to make Odisha corruption-free and set an example that would deter government officials from engaging in corrupt practices.

The Chief Minister made the remarks while chairing a high-level review meeting of the Vigilance Department at Lok Seva Bhawan here.

According to an official statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), Majhi assured that the state government would examine various requirements of the Odisha Vigilance, including capacity building, recruitment and filling up of vacant posts, and take appropriate decisions at the earliest.

It was informed during the meeting that the state government forwarded a record 125 corruption cases to the Vigilance Department for investigation between April 1 and December 31, 2025.

The CMO said that never before had the state government assigned such a large number of cases for investigation within a nine-month period.

The review further revealed that a total of 488 corruption cases were disposed of in 2025. Of these, cases related to the acquisition of disproportionate assets (DA) accounted for the highest number.

As many as 173 DA cases were disposed of during the year, marking an all-time record so far.

The Vigilance Department also intensified enforcement action during the year. In 2025, Vigilance teams conducted raids at 487 locations across the state and took action in cases involving disproportionate assets and bribery.

As part of the crackdown, 1,199 bank accounts linked to corrupt government officials were frozen. Significant assets were seized during these operations, including 153 buildings, 417 plots of land, 12 farmhouses and 18.3 kilograms of gold.

In addition, deposits worth Rs 36.69 crore and cash amounting to Rs 8.8 crore were also seized.

The CMO said that owing to infrastructure development and improvements in training quality, the State Vigilance Academy has been awarded ISO 9001:2015 certification for a period of three years.

The Chief Minister appreciated the State Vigilance Academy and the Vigilance Department for achieving the milestone.

–IANS

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