BHUBANESWAR:The State Government has opposed the move to shift Central Government’s text book press from here to Kolkata. The issue was raised in the recently concluded Budget session of the Assembly through calling attention motion. Replying to the discussion in this regard, School and Mass Education Minister Badrinarayan Patro assured the members that the State Government will request the Centre again not to shift the press from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata. The Minister described the Centre’s move to shift the press as unfortunate and said central text book press in other states are being modernised.
Participating in the discussion, members cutting across partylines criticised the move to shift the press and alleged that it is yet another instance of the Centre’s negligence towards Odisha. Government chief whip Amar Prasad Satpathy and Congress chief whip Taraprasad Bahinipati demanded that the State Government should put pressure on the Centre not to shift the press to Kolkata.The members alleged that employees of Bhubaneswar press have not received their salary for the last four to five months.