Bhubaneswar: A rights activist from Puri has urged the Odisha chief minister to stop ‘misusing’ public funds on events like ‘Pakhala Dibasa’.
In a strongly-worded Janasunani to the CMO, Jayanta Kumar Das stated that it was ‘shocking’ that the state government reportedly spent crores of rupees on events such as ‘Pakhala Dibas’, and sought an audit of expenditure.
“Such expenditure serves no essential public purpose and amounts to a
blatant misuse of taxpayers’ money. At a time when Odisha urgently requires greater investment in Healthcare, Education, Drinking Water, Roads, Agriculture & Employment, spending public funds on publicity-oriented celebrations is arbitrary, wasteful and raises serious suspicion of financial irregularities,” Das wrote.
He requested CM Mohan Majhi to immediately stop funding such non-essential events and order an independent audit of all expenditure incurred on ‘Pakhala Dibasa’, and place the complete details in the public domain.
Das filed another complaint with the CMO urging the chief minister to avoid spending public money on distribution of ‘Lakshmi Purana’ books.
“As per the statement of Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida, the Government proposes to distribute crores of copies of the ‘ଲକ୍ଷ୍ମୀ ପୁରାଣ’ across Odisha,” Das submitted, requesting CM Majhi to stop funding such activities and order an independent audit of the proposed expenditure.
He stated that public funds must be utilised “strictly for genuine public welfare.”