Bhubaneswar: Continuing his tirade against the Naveen Patnaik government, former chief secretary Bijay Patnaik, who recently joined the Congress, on Monday blamed the government for the dearth of jobs and increasing unemployment in the state.
“Odias are being exploited in Odisha. Contractors of the state are not getting work here. People are migrating to other states in search of jobs,” he told a presser.
He further said that there is a great difference between the current Chief Minister and the ‘Naveen Patnaik’ with whom he worked as a principal secretary.
Patnaik also questioned the rationale behind an independent 5T department, which is nothing but a slogan. “How can we expect transparency when people have no access to the secretariat? Every department has a secretary and development commissioner then what is the need for another department if they can function to their full potential? It is no secret that people working with the government are an aggrieved lot as they are not able to work independently,” he said.
When questioned about Naba Das’ murder, the former chief secretary said that he could conclude from the videos of the incident, which has gone viral, that the dismissed ASI, Gopal Das, may not be the one who killed the minister. “What can be more embarrassing than the fact that an influential leader was killed in broad daylight in his own constituency? This points to a bigger conspiracy. It is difficult to imagine that an ASI could think of killing a minister. The Crime Branch needs to unravel the truth. If it fails, the case should be handed over to the CBI.”
Soon after joining the Congress in New Delhi on Friday, Patnaik had said that the ruling BJD had become a vote-centric party and was bothered about the welfare of the people or the development and progress of Odisha. “There is misgovernance, rampant corruption and violence in Odisha and it needs a change to reestablish democracy in the state,” he had said.
