Odisha Deputy CM Makes Veiled Target At VK Pandian Over Use Of Tourism Funds By BJD

Bhubaneswar: Taking a dig at the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in Odisha, Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida on Saturday alleged that public money was spent to promote one Individual,.

Coming down heavily on the previous Naveen Patnaik government over expenditure made in the tourism sector, she made a veiled reference to V K Pandian and alleged that huge money was spent for the promotion of a particular individual.

Without taking any name, the Deputy CM claimed that the previous BJD regime used tourism funds in a personality-centric manner, promoting a particular person instead of spending for actual tourism development.

“While funds meant for tourism were earlier spent to promote one particular individual, the present government is people-centric. We will never promote any specific individual or allot funds for this,” said Parida.

The Deputy CM further alleged that the BJD regime had allotted many prime tourism sites to party workers at throwaway rates, with some receiving leases for 40 years and others for 80 years, leading to legal complications in current efforts to develop them.

“We have allocated funds to develop tourism sites at lesser-known places and promote spiritual tourism. However, the previous government leased out many sites to show favour toown people which are causing legal hurdles,” she claimed.

Noting that Rs 8,153 crore in tourism investments had already been approved, Parida said three officials have been appointed to facilitate land allotment, and financial institutions are being linked to support investors facing monetary issues.

Describing Odisha as the land of Lord Jagannath and a prime destination for spiritual tourism, she said the government is focusing on boosting tourism around local deities and also providing secure locations for interested investors, for which it has allocated Rs 300 crore for infrastructure development,.

Refuting the allegations made by Parida as false and baseless, BJD MLA Sarada Jena claimed that the BJP government is targeting the previous regime to hide its inability to handle several issues.

He said infrastructure development in the tourism sector had taken place in a significant way during the BJD rule.