BHUBANESWAR: Union human resources development minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday launched a no-holds-barred attack on the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha, dubbing it as “liquor-seller establishment” which failed the state on all fronts in its 17 years of rule.
“A few years ago, the excise revenue of the Odisha government was just Rs 141 crore per annum. Now, because of the aggressive excise policy of Chief Minister Nave-en Patnaik, hundreds of liquor shops have come up in various parts of the state. The collection of excise revenue has go-ne up to '2,700 crore in the last fiscal. When this government fails to provide teachers in school, doctors in hospital and drinking water to people in rural parts of the sta-te, it is destroying their families by selling liquor,” said Mr Javadekar. He alleged that the BJD government in Odisha had mastered the art of corruption and blamed it for the multi-crore chit fund scam which has left hundreds of small depositors in a state of destitution.
"The Naveen Patnaik government is ‘praveen’ (proficient) in corruption. At least 50 BJD MLAs, including the chief minister Mr Patnaik himself, promoted the chit fund scam in the state," Mr Javadekar, while showing a photograph of the CM attending a mega event of defamed ponzi firm Seashore Group, said. The minister also took potshots at the state government for failing to disburse money from the Rs 300 crore corpus fund announced earlier for the 75,000 identified duped investors.
The minister further alleged that the Naveen Patnaik government was preparing a "priority list" of beneficiaries from the list of all beneficiaries. "Those who are giving bribe to the government, their names have been listed in the priority list and they would get the benefits of the schemes. I want to ask Naveen babu, where have you led Odisha during your tenure?" he stated.
Claiming that the CM Mr Patnaik’s popularity had waned with the expose of corruption in the state, the minister who is in charge of three parliamentary constituencies in the state, said people of Odisha had made up their mind to change the ruling BJD in the next elections and bring the BJP to power for better governance and development.
