With the movement for separate Koshal State gaining steam as well as the lawyers agitation for permanent High Court bench paralysing normal life in Western Odisha districts, the Congress members on Monday called upon Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in the Assembly to start confidence building measures by holding discussions with the MPs and MLAs of the districts as well as the lawyers to resolve the issues.
Raising the issue during zero hour, Santosh Singh Saluja (Cong) said the bandh in demand for a Koshal State has evoked spontaneous response in all the Western Odosha districts. Stating that this is a warning signal for the State Government, Saluja said common people have joined the agitation which was confined to the lawyers till Sunday.
Saluja said the people of coastal Odisha should not hurt the sentiments of the Western Odisha on this issue which is sensitive. He said the Chief Minister should again call the lawyers, MPs and MLAs of the area for a discussion to bring out a solution.
His party colleague Naba Kishore Das warned the State Government of serious consequences if the demand for a permanent bench of the High Court is taken lightly.
Das demanded that the State Government should agree to the demand of the people of the area who feel neglected.
Stating that the State Government should immediately take steps to resolve the crisis, Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh demanded that the report of the committee on regional imbalances submitted since 2008 should be placed in the Assembly.
Prafulla Majhi (Cong) sat on a dharna in the well of the House alleging that the State Government had not announced any compensation for the families of those who were killed by Pahadi Cheetah gang in a remote village of Sundargarh district.
Majhi returned to his seat after Speaker Pradip Kumar Amat directed the State Government to take note of his demand.