Bhubaneswar: In a damage control exercise, the state government Monday removed senior bureaucrat PK Jena from the post of chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA).
He was replaced by senior IAS officer Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra with immediate effect, sources in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said. Jena had been at the helm of SJTA since April 19 last year.
The government’s action came in the backdrop of opposition parties sharpening their attack on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the missing key issue. Though Patnaik ordered a judicial probe into the episode, the BJP has not stopped attacking the government.
Mohapatra will hold the post in addition to his existing role as principal secretary, school and mass education. Earlier, he had a two-year stint in the same post when he was RDC (Central). His appointment comes at a critical time as he has not only to tackle the missing keys issue but has to ensure that the annual Rath Yatra passes off smoothly.
Earlier in the day, outgoing SJTA chief Jena held a meeting of servitors in connection with the Supreme Court’s ruling to prevent exploitation of devotees at the temple.
The servitors may file an application before the Puri district judge if they have anything to say regarding the SC’s directions June 8 to the temple management.
The SC asked the district judge to file an interim report by June 30 on the factual aspects such as difficulties faced by the devotees, exploitative practices and deficiencies in the management, if any.
Puri district judge Ambuj Mohan Das, Collector Aravind Agarwal and SP Sarthak Sadangi attended the meeting.
The BJP continued its attack on the government over the missing keys. The party Monday sought a clarification from the CM on whether the key is actually lost or has intentionally been misplaced.
BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya said the state government that kept gold ornaments of the temple in a bank locker has admitted that Ratna Bhandar is not safe. Reacting to this, BJD leader and Puri MP Pinaki Mishra said the saffron party is unnecessarily dragging the CM’s name into the issue only to gain political benefits.
Meanwhile, judge Ambuja Mohan Das Monday visited the temple to take stock of the situation in light of the Supreme Court’s directives. A closed-door meeting was held under the chairmanship of outgoing SJTA chief PK Jena.
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