Bhubaneswar, Oct. 4: Black flag demonstrations and flight problems hounded chief minister Naveen Patnaik during his Koraput visit today to launch a string of development schemes in the backward district.
The tone for the visit was set in Koraput, where Congress activists, led by former party MLA from the district Tara Prasad Bahinipati greeted Naveen with black flags. Later, police whisked away the activists.
Though Naveen’s public meeting went on smoothly in Koraput in the wake of this incident, his plane failed to land at Bhubaneswar airport in the afternoon because of a heavy downpour. It was forced to return and land at Visakhapatnam. The chief minister returned to the state capital late in the evening when the weather improved.
Earlier in morning, his scheduled trip to Malkangiri was cancelled as his chopper could not land in the district headquarters town because of inclement weather. Naveen addressed a huge gathering in Koraput and launched various welfare programmes.
He distributed land pattas to landless tribals and cycles and Prerana ATM cards for disbursal of scholarships to backward students.
“My government is committed to socio-economic development of the people, especially tribals,” he said.
Launching a cattle breed improvement programme in the district, Naveen said the project would help the people earn better livelihood through dairy development.
A total number of 620 integrated livestock development centres would be opened in 13 districts in collaboration with JK Trust. Three lakh families living in 5,000 villages would be covered under the programme in the next five years, he said. Educated youths would be appointed in these centres.
Flagging off mobile veterinary health units, Naveen said 105 such units were functional in the tribal-dominated districts. Of these, 80 mobile units were operational in the undivided Koraput-Balangir-Kalahandi (KBK) districts, he said.
The chief minister also launched “Sakshar Bharat” programme of adult education with focus on women and flagged off the Nidhi Mousa Rath designed to spread health awareness.
Flanked by his ministerial colleagues, Debi Prasad Mishra, Lal Bihari Himirika, Rabi Narayan Nanda and Ramesh Majhi, Naveen waved at the crowd.
This was his second visit to the district after his April 13 trip, when he had gone there to meet the family members of his party MLA Jhina Hikaka, who was abducted by Maoists on March 24.
Elaborate security arrangements had been made in Koraput and Malkangiri districts in view of the chief minister’s visit today. Armed security forces belonging to the Border Security Force and the state police’s anti-Naxal Special Operation Group were deployed in and around his meeting venues. Two years ago, the Maoists abducted the then Malkangiri collector, R. Vineel Krishna, from a meeting venue.
A BJD MLA, Jagabandhu Majhi, was gunned down by the suspected ultras at another meeting venue in neighbouring Nawarangpur district last year. Malkangiri and Koraput are two of the districts worst affected by Left-wing extremist activities.
