Chief minister Naveen Patnaik is reviewing the work of various departments. What is your opinion on this?

It is usual. The chief minister did a noble thing. The day the government was formed in May last year, he had immediately convened a meeting of the council of ministers and informed the ministers about various government programmes. He had even doubled the budgetary allocations of various departments. Now, he wants to review whether the plans and programmes of the individual departments have been implemented or not. It is undoubtedly the right thing.
 
We have noticed that you are working hard for your two departments. On a scale of 10, how many marks will you give yourself?

I don’t give marks to myself. However, I have always been at the top for the last 40 years. I have been the minister for several years in various departments. I am doing fine at this moment.
 
You must be aware that mark system has been abolished in examinations and the grades have been introduced. Which grade you would like to get?

I am holding a department that should not have any grade.
 
You have already made a statement that you are holding departments, which are neither important nor work for public welfare. Don’t you feel that you are being marginalised?

Why should I? The government means the chief minister. The chief minister is answerable to the people. So, to run his government, he needs some partymen whom he has included in the ministry. All of them continue to be the ministers as long as they enjoy the confidence of the chief minister. So, ministers have no credit or discredit. I am doing my job.
 
But do you think you should have been given more important portfolios?

It is the chief minister who distributes portfolios. The chief minister might have thought others to be better than me. 
He has given me some responsibility and I am discharging my duties sincerely.

Is it a fact that there are better people than you in the cabinet?

Obviously. There are many good and clean people. There is nothing to be dissatisfied about it. Somehow, I am engaged. As far as excise revenue is concerned, the collection has gone up. It has leapfrogged from Rs 1,780 crore last year to Rs 2,038 crore. I had the responsibility to see the smooth conduct of elections to co-operative bodies and I did it. So, there is no question of being marginalised.

Last week, you raised the issue that the Paradip port was making huge losses. While the authorities has claimed that it has achieved good turnover and many ambitious projects are being taken up, why are you saying those things about the port?

We have noticed over the years that the number of ships berthing at the port has decreased. Now, the berths are lying vacant. Even though it is a major port in eastern India, it has not had a regular chairman for months. Even the deputy chairman and the estate officers have been brought from south India.
 
What else they can do for the betterment of the port? 

After the enactment of major port law, it was said that the state would not own any port. But there was an unwritten understanding between the Centre and the state that the chairman, the chief engineer and other senior officials for the ports would be from the state cadre as they can better understand the local environment and the needs of the port. Things have changed over the years and no one pays any heed to this aspect. The business of Paradip port has been badly affected. The business has been shifted to the Dhamra Port in Bhadrak district and there is a conspiracy behind it.

Why do you see a conspiracy behind the move?

The business has been diverted to Dhamra port, which has been acquired by the Adani Group from the L&T and Tata Group. Some people want to help the Dhamra port grow at the cost of Paradip as its chairman is close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The LNG terminal is also going to be shifted from Paradip to Dhamra. Is this not sufficient indication that Paradip port is being undermined? Even the BJP has nominated its own people to the port trust’s board of management. 
 
BJP senior leader Bijoy Mohapatra said you misled the people on the Paradip port and nomination of BJP members to the management was nothing new. Even during the Congress regime, many party members were included in the trust board. How do you respond to it?

Those who have even a little love and affection for the Paradip port will realise that there is a deeper conspiracy to close it down. Besides, those people who have been appointed are not locals and are busy in collecting booty. Should I disclose all these things? Please talk about the interest of the state and not argue in favour of vested interests. It was Biju babu who had worked hard and helped in setting up the Paradip port and we should not allow it to be ruined. One should ponder why the port is losing business. The port is located favourably and has 
international reputation. Despite this, it has failed to attract huge business.
 
Beer was not available for nearly 20 days because of a controversy related to the offer price of beer and other liquor. Does it not reflect the short-sightedness of the officials of the excise department that you head?

The issue has been resolved now. We have given monopoly of liquor trade business to the Odisha State Beverage Corporation (OSBC) and I don’t interfere in their business. Their job is to procure liquor and supply it to the various outlets through its channels. At the time of implementation of the new excise policy, our officers were told that the liquor companies were supplying alcohol at a lower price to Andhra Pradesh. So, they insisted that companies should supply it at the same price here as well. This is why the problem cropped up. They had come up with an argument that as they were selling liquor in bulk, they were supplying at a lower price and it was not possible for them to supply it at the same price in Odisha. After the court’s intervention, the issue has been sorted out.

The state suffered a revenue loss to the tune of Rs 40 crore over this.

In actual terms, there was no loss. We will be able to meet the annual target.

A controversy has already cropped up ahead of the car festival following Puri Sankaracharya Swami Nishalananda Saraswati’s demand that his role be d fined vis-à-vis the Puri temple administration. Your backing of the Shankaracharya has also stirred a controversy. What do you have to say on this?

This is a controversial topic. It depends on your belief. According to the Hindu religion and belief, Sankaracharya is considered the guru of Hindus and the Puri Gajapati is the first sevak of Lord Jagannath. All should abide by their decisions. It has been a practice for hundreds of years. In 1955, a law was enacted and the temple administration was created to help the Puri Gajapati and Sankaracharya in the smooth management of its affairs. The temple administration’s role should be like that of a middleman. So whatever he says, we should give importance to it with all respect and dignity. Religious traditions should not be intervened by the law. On the other hand, Sankaracharya should participate in the rath yatra and offer his prayers.

The controversy is whether the devotees should be allowed to mount the chariot and touch the deities. What is your opinion on this?

A handful of people, with the support of a section of people, are able to mount chariots and have darshan of Lord Jagannath and even touch Him. But have you ever thought of the thousands of people who are on the Grand Road standing in a queue to have a glimpse of Lord Jagannath and a few who stand and obstruct devotees from seeing their beloved lord on the chariots? Do you ever think of the people who are abroad and are not able to come to Puri and depend on the television to see their beloved God on the chariots? If some people obstruct it (by standing in front of the idols), it’s not good. There is no need to mount the chariots and touch the deities obstructing the views of lakhs of devotees.

You had raised the issue of the rehabilitation and peripheral development advisory committee meetings not being held for years in your Jagatsinghpur district? There are many industries coming up in the area. Why it has not been called so far?

The revenue development commissioner is the chairman and the collector is the convener of the committee. I don’t know why aren’t they convening the meeting. The industries department, being the nodal agency, should have intervened.

Being the cabinet minister from the Jagatsinghpur district, you should have pressurised them to hold the meeting.

But why should I? I am pursuing the matter, but it has not materialised. Officers should be very particular about this.

You are always at loggerheads with the bureaucrats…

Your conception is totally wrong. Bureaucrats are good friends of mine. You can ask any of them.

You are heading the co-operation department. What is the current status of the Bhubaneswar Urban Co-operative Bank?

It did not function well and there was huge financial loss. The Reserve Bank of India 
cancelled its licence. Efforts were made to sell it off and later, to merge it with some profit-making bank. But nothing has happened so far.