Bhubaneswar: Industries Minister Niranjan Pujari was cornered by his own party Members in the Assembly as he failed to give a satisfactory reply to their queries during question hour.
The incident occurred Friday when BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain asked the minister what steps the government had taken for manufacturing products which the government is distributing to school children and senior citizens and others under various educational and social welfare schemes.
The MLA wanted to know how many laptops, bicycles, school uniforms, blankets, umbrellas etc were distributed to beneficiaries by the government under various schemes, and what quantity of these products were manufactured in Orissa.
In his reply, Pujari said that 15,000 laptops were being distributed, and that two uniforms worth `300 each is given to students in ITIs and uniforms worth `400 to school students.
Pujari, who said that garments worth `19 crore is manufactured in the state, however, failed to give the manufacturing figures of other products, for which Swain severely criticised him. The minister replied that in the first place such a question shouldn’t have been allowed by the Speaker for discussion during question hour.
Shortly, former industries minister Debi Mishra also asked a similar question and asked the minister if he would convene a meeting of all concerned departments to find out statistics and take measures for the growth and expansion of manufacturing and assembling units.The minister accepted the proposal.
Amid fights between the treasury bench and ministers, BJP Member Pradip Purohit raised the issue outside the House and said that every year `500 crore is misappropriated in the name of implementing schemes. Ruling party spokespersons denied the allegation.
20 electrocutions in 4 yrs
Twenty persons in the state have died after coming in contact with 33KV live wires in the last four years, Energy Minister Prafulla Kumar Mallick informed the Assembly Friday. The minister, in a written reply, said all these deaths have taken place between 2014 and 2017 (till date). He said the Energy department has provided ex-gratia of `13.12 lakh in total to the deceased families. Mallick said the government has taken steps under various schemes to prevent such mishaps and is working on improving the capacity of the conductor used in 33KV wires.
OPCC demands crop bonus
Opposition Congress Friday demanded the state government to immediately announce crop bonus of `300 to paddy farmers. Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) chief Prasad Harichandan, addressing the media Friday said, “The state government must announce `300 bonus to farmers on the existing paddy MSP.” The ruling BJD leaders, however, said that the Congress, instead of politicizing the issue, should place its demand before the Centre.
PNN
