BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Opposition came down heavily on the Government for the deteriorating law and order situation in the State, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik dismissed the allegations and said Odisha remained by and large peaceful with no major incident on any front.
Replying to the discussion on voting of supplementary demands for grants of Home and General Administration departments, the Chief Minister said the overall crime situation has remained under control and there has been a substantial improvement in the Left Wing Extremism scenario. “Improvement of police infrastructure, recruitment of armed personnel, specialised training and a progressive policy of surrender and rehabilitation have led to substantial improvement in the situation,” he said.
The Chief Minister said, the LWE cadres have no local as people of Odisha and do not support violent activities. “Our problem is mostly caused by infiltration from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand as well as from Andhra Pradesh,” he said and added the asymmetric deployment of Central forces on Chhattisgarh border is a major issue towards which the State Government has drawn Centre’s attention.
Stating that repeated requests for additional deployment of Central forces have not been considered so far, the Chief Minister said commitment of the State Government to eliminate LWE menace is reflected in its determined efforts to complete the most challenging Gurupriya bridge in spite of the Centre not giving adequate funds. “I am hopeful, in a few months from now the cut off areas will have connectivity,” he said.
Naveen said, the State Government has always given top priority towards crime against vulnerable sections of society especially women, children, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Stating that anti-corruption and transparency are two major planks of the Government, he said transparent structures, processes and procedures have been put in place in various areas of functioning of the Government.
“We are also pursuing preventive vigilance in various Government agencies,” he said and added that the State Government is firmly committed to take services in a transparent manner to the citizens and implement welfare schemes.
Question hour disrupted, House adjourned twice
Bhubaneswar: Opposition BJP and ruling BJD members on Friday disrupted the proceedings forcing Speaker Pradip Amat to adjourn the House twice during the pre-lunch session. As soon as the House assembled for the day, BJP members trooped into the well shouting anti-government slogans over the issue of suicide by farmers. No business could be transacted during the question hour as the Speaker adjourned the House till 12 noon. As the House reassembled, ruling BJD members raised the Polavaram issue to counter BJP members who were in the well shouting slogans. The Speaker had to adjourn the Assembly again till 12.30 pm. Leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra, however, expressed concern over the matter and requested the Speaker to convene an all party meeting to find out a way to stop wastage of time of the House because of such adjournments. Stating that all parties are responsible for such a state of affairs, Mishra said, “We have to introspect and take steps to correct the situation.”