Intensifying the campaign against the State Government, the Congress on Sunday alleged that foodgrains worth crores of rupees provided by the Centre to be sold through PDS in Odisha are being misappropriated by BJD workers.
Addressing a public meeting on the sixth day of the padayatra from Cuttack to Palasahi at Sakhigopal, OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik alleged that the government employees have colluded with the BJD workers at the village level to pilfer the PDS commodities.
Criticising Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for not redeeming his promise to delegate powers to the panchayats, the OPCC president alleged that now most of the panchayats are being run by government officials. He alleged that no work gets done at the panchayat, block and district level without bribes and added that this is an example of transparent administration of Naveen.
Niranjan alleged that besides the irregularities in the distribution of rice meant for BPL families provided by the Centre, the multi-crore mining scam and the coalgate have completely dented the image of the State Government.
Referring to the direction given by the Chief Minister to district collectors to ensure that nobody goes hungry in the State, Niranjan said there are many examples of starvation deaths during the BJD rule. Death of four persons of Jhintu Bariha family of Sinapalli village in Balangir district has exposed the tall claims of the State Government, he said.
Patnaik said thousands of poor families in the State have not got BPL cards, but many rich families have them. Stating that the State Government has failed to create jobs for the unemployed, the OPCC president alleged that every year lakhs of people from the State migrate in search of work.
Former ministers Kishore Chandra Patel and Suresh Kumar Routray, senior leaders Anant Prasad Sethi, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Gurupada Nanda, Sibananda Ray, Satyabrata Patra, Sabitri Sahu and president of Mahila Congress Bijaylaxmi Sahu participated in the padayatra.