Odisha auditors caught demanding ₹10 bribe per student in government-run residential schools
Two government auditors in Odisha were arrested after being caught demanding bribes of ₹10 per student to regularize school accounts. Vigilance officials seized over ₹14 lakh in cash from the suspects, who were auditing residential schools for the Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste Development department.
Why it matters
The incident exposes systemic corruption in the administration of government-run educational institutions, impacting the welfare of marginalized students.
Vigilance sleuths in Odisha have come across a bizarre way of demanding a bribe: ₹10 per student in government-run residential schools, to regularise any discrepancies in accounts of schools.
The Vigilance department has seized a total cash amount of ₹14,38,340, consisting of notes of different denominations kept in envelopes and rolled in bundles, from two auditors who were on official assignments to audit residential schools run by the Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste Development department of the Odisha government.
Acting on credible input late at night on Thursday (September 10, 2026), two auditors from the ST and SC Development department of the Odisha government, while on their way from the District Welfare Officer’s office, Baripada, to their hotel after completing audit work, were intercepted by Odisha Vigilance.
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