Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday clarified that he had sanction for whirlwind district tours by his private secretary V. K. Pandian, which were intended at speedy grievance redressal.
The four-page-long clarification by the Chief Minister came close on the heels of insistence of BJP MLAs for a discussion on the controversial issue on the second day of the monsoon session of Odisha Legislative Assembly.
Assembly businesses could not be transacted as BJP members alleged that their request for discussion in shape of an adjournment motion titled, ‘Democratic system has collapsed in the State – who is greater – secretary or Minister’ was not accepted.
“Two years of COVID disruption caused dislocation in grievance redressal and I thought of reaching out to the people, by taking the CM Grievance Cell to the doorsteps of the people to cover all blocks and urban local bodies of the State in the shortest period possible. Chief Minister Grievance Cell is handled by the Chief Minister Office [CMO] and as per my direction, officers from the CMO conduced decentralised grievances cell in all the districts,” Mr. Patnaik said in his clarification.
He said, “this mammoth exercise was carried out in more than 190 locations over a period of six months. Every day three to five venues were covered and in the process 57,442 petitions were collected from the people, and as on date 43,536 petitions have been resolved or disposed of.”
A massive controversy had erupted in the State when Mr. Pandian had started his tour from June second week. Opposition political parties alleged that the bureaucrat’s meetings were of a political nature while MLAs and Ministers were preparing stages for his meeting in their respective constituencies. Mr. Pandian’s tour had “undermined” the authority of the Chief Minister and his Ministers, they alleged.
Use of helicopter
On the criticism that Mr. Pandian had extensively used helicopters, the Odisha Chief Minister said, “it would have taken one and half years to do the same exercise by road vis a vis by chopper. Everyday conducting three to five meetings in different locations is humanly impossible within a window of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. which is convenient to people.”
“In the last three and half years we have spent about ₹40 crores on chopper. On an average ₹1 to 1.5 crore is spent on chopper every month. In the past six months when chopper was used intensively to reach out to the people, the average expenditure was the same around ₹1 to 1.5 crore a month. It is completely false and misleading to say that excess expenditure has been made,” he said.
Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, a disgruntled MLA and editor of Sambad, Odisha’s largest circulated daily, charged that the money spent on chopper to visit districts could be equal to fund spent on recent Chandrayaan 3 Mission.
The clarification has not gone down well with the Opposition the BJP and the Congress. “Our MLAs had asked different questions linked to district tour by CM’s private secretary. All the queries were rejected. The government was trying to keep people in the dark about his private secretary’s visit,” alleged Jayanarayan Mishra, the Leader of the Opposition and veteran BJP leader.
Mr. Mishra said, “the democratic system has collapsed in Odisha. The State is ruled by an officer. CM should have replied to Opposition queries as per assembly rules after a thorough discussion. Making a separate statement will not suffice.”
“Different associations of teachers’ and ASHA Karmis are now staging agitations in Bhubaneswar. There are many individuals and organisations too camping in the city to get their grievance redressed. Had mammoth grievance redressal exercise achieved its intended goal, the associations would not have been on road,” said Narasingha Mishra, leader of Congress Legislative Party.
Meanwhile, Speaker Pramila Mallick adjourned Monday’s Assembly proceedings till 4 p.m.
