Journalists Allowed Inside Odisha Secretariat After 4 Years

Bhubaneswar: Journalists of various media organisations were allowed inside Lok Seva Bhawan, the Odisha secretariat, in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday after around four years.

Entry of journalists into Lok Seve Bhawan premises, which houses several state government departments, was restricted by the BJD government since March 2020 following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

The ban imposed on their entry continued even after the pandemic situation was over and similar curbs elsewhere were lifted.

It was a heartening scene to see the entry of hordes of journalists into the state secretariat on Wednesday evening, shortly after the BJP government headed by Mohan Charan Majhi took oath.

Happy over the development, several journalists expressed their gratitude to the new government for lifting the restrictions which remained in force for around four years.

With the BJP storming to power in the state in the recent Assembly elections, the authorities decided to lift restrictions on the entry of journalists to the state secretariat.

While restrictions on their entry into Lok Seva Bhawan had triggered widespread resentment among journalists, political parties like BJP and Congress had also demanded steps to keep the building open for scribes.