Naveen Patnaik Alleges Conspiracy To Stop Salaries Of Mission Shakti Women; Odisha Dy CM Counters

Bhubaneswar: With a large number of Mission Shakti workers staging protest in Bhubaneswar with their grievances, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday accused Odisha’s BJP government of conspiring to stop the salaries of these agitating women.

Hitting out at the state government over salaries of support staff working under Mission Shakti department, the BJD president alleged that the state government is conspiring to stop the salaries of the Mission Shakti women.

“I strongly condemn this. As you know more than 70 lakh women are in the Mission Shakti. We in the Biju Janata Dal have always supported to Mission Shakti women. We will continue to support them,” Naveen told reporters outside House today.

Hundreds of support staff of Mission Shakti staged protest outside Assembly over various demands including release of their salaries.
Opposition BJD also raised the issue in the House demanding payment of salaries of Mission Shakti women.

BJD Chief Whip in Assembly Pramila Mallik also attacked the government for stopping the salary of about 60,000 women working as support staff in different women self-help groups (SHGs) across the state.

Hitting back at BJD for its allegation, BJP accused the regional party of misleading the women protestors.

Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida told reporters that the issue was discussed in the Assembly on Monday and no one should mislead the protesters. “We will take all the steps that are in the interest of the women,” she said.

BJP MLA Manas Kumar Dutta claimed that BJD was responsible for non-payment of salaries to Mission Shakti women as the previous government had no extended the service agreement that expired in April 2024.

Reacting to it, BJD MLA Dhruba Charan Sahoo said that the service of Mission Shankti support staff could not be extended as the model code of conduct was in force for the general elections 2024.