Bhubaneswar: On the orders of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, 5T Secretary VK Pandian toured all the districts of the state to hear the public grievances and review various development projects, but the opposition has been raising questions about the cost of his chopper rides and claimed that a whopping Rs 500 cr has been spent for the same.
In response, Commerce and Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu on Sunday said that the opposition is making misleading statements. “In the last 5 years, Rs 50 crore has been spent on helicopter tours. On an average, 10 to 12 crore rupees have been spent on helicopter tours every year,” she said.
Minister Sahu also said that all information in this regard will be presented in the upcoming assembly session and then all the false propaganda of the opposition will come to the fore. “Those who are spreading such lies for their own personal interests should be ashamed,” she said.
“The CMO (Chief Minister’s Office) is receiving grievances of the people and solving them under the instructions of the Chief Minister. This is unbearable for the opposition because they do not want the problems of the public to be solved,” Sahu pointed out. They should apologise to the people of Odisha for making such misleading statements, she added.
It is pertinent to mention here that BJD MLA Soumyanranjan Patnaik first wrote that Pandian’s travel expenses would be Rs. 300 crores. Later, he said that it would touch Rs. 600 crores.
At a press conference on Saturday, BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal claimed that the cost of Pandian’s helicopter rides was Rs. 500 crores.
According to the instructions of the Chief Minister, his Secretary (5-T) VK Pandian and Special Secretary R. Vineel Krishna visited 30 districts so far. In each district, they stayed for two or three days and reviewed various projects and also heard the public grievances. They received complaints directly from lakhs of people and immediate actions were taken in some cases after approval from the Chief Minister.
While the opposition is raising many questions about the visit of the 5T Secretary to the districts, the BJP has also complained to the Centre. The central government also sought a report on the matter from the state government. With the issue now in cold storage, the opposition has made it a topic of discussion to criticize the government. In response, BJD said that all the information will be presented in the upcoming assembly session.