BHUBANESWAR: President of All India Mahila Congress (AIMC) Alka Lamba on Wednesday announced the party will take the fight against rise in crimes against women in Odisha to districts and blocks.
Addressing mediapersons here, Lamba alleged Odisha tops the list of states where crimes against women is on rise. As per the latest report of NCRB, seven rapes are reported in the state daily of which four involve minor girls, she said.
Stating ‘Maaku Samman’ is an empty slogan of the ruling BJD, Lamba alleged the women self help groups (SHGs) are being misused in the state for elections. Earlier, Mahila Congress workers led by Lamba and Odisha Pradesh Mahila Congress president Minakshi Bahinipati, during a protest against rise in crimes against women, were engaged in a scuffle with police personnel and were stopped during their march to Naveen Niwas.
The police took the agitators in vans from Pallaspalli locality and released them at another place. Talking to mediapersons before getting into the police van, Lamba said, “We wanted to meet the chief minister but were stopped from going to Naveen Niwas. It is a murder of democracy,” she said adding the chief minister’s Mission Shakti is a failure.
OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak and Bahinipati had announced that Mahila Congress will gherao the chief minister’s residence residence to protest against rise in crimes against women in Odisha and the deteriorating health, education and employment opportunities in the state.