Odisha Ministers Made 76 Helicopter Trips In 2 Years; CM Tops With 32 Chopper Travels

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his Cabinet colleagues made total 76 trips in helicopters to different parts of Odisha in the last two financial years.

This was informed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Niranjan Pujari in his reply to a question by Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati in the Assembly on Monday.

The minister said the helicopter trips made by the ministers from March, 2021 to February, 2023 cost Rs 17.89 crore to the state exchequer. While the chief minister made maximum 32 trips during the period, minister Tusharkanti Behera made 11 trips and minister Naba Kishore Das went on 4 trips before his death in January this year, Pujari said.

He further said the other ministers who made helicopter trips included Ashok Chandra Panda, Padmini Dian, Padmanabh Behera, Sudam Marndi, Pratap Jena, Samir Ranjan Dash, Ranendra Pratap Swain, Jagannath Saraka and Tukuni Sahu.