Bhubaneswar, Feb. 12: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik today did not respond to the Opposition demand for a CBI inquiry into the mining scam and the fraud by deposit collection companies, the two major issues rocking the state. Miffed, the BJP members staged a walk out.
The Opposition had stressed on the demand while moving a no-confidence motion in the state assembly against the BJD government today. However, the motion was lost by 95-26 votes at the end of five hour-long debate.
Replying to debate on the no-trust motion moved by Opposition Congress and supported by BJP, Naveen said his government had taken a number of steps to stop illegal mining in the state and to bring the culprits in the deposit collection scam and bring back the hard-earned money of the investors.
Dissatisfied with the chief minister’s reply, the BJP staged a walkout in the House.
“The state government has not done anything spectacular to address the major issues confronting the state,” said BJP legislature party leader Jaynarayan Mishra.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and BJP president Rajnath Singh had raised the issue during their rallies held in the state recently.
Moving the no-trust motion, Congress chief whip Prasad Harichandan said: “The government is scared of a CBI probe as the nexus between the ruling party and mining owners as well as the sham deposit collection companies would be exposed”.
Harichandan claimed that the Justice M.B. Shah Commission report on mining scam, which was placed in both the houses of Parliament, had indicted the Odisha government and recommended a CBI probe into the scam. However, the state government had said in its action taken report (ATR) that there was no necessity of CBI probe, he said.
Similarly, though several states have agreed for a CBI inquiry into the deposit collection scam in response to a PIL pending in the Supreme Court, Odisha government is opposed to it, said the Congress leader.
“How many crores has the state government spent on lawyers to avoid the CBI inquiry?” he asked.
Turning the table on the Centre, Naveen said: “ The main reasons for the problems in the mining sector is the manner in which scarce resources are allocated to mining lease holders. I have been advocating for competitive bidding, imposition of a mineral resource rent tax and royalty revision at regular intervals.”
“Unfortunately, all our requests have fallen on deaf ears. What is the motive behind the deafening silence on our just demands,” he asked listing out the steps initiated by the state government, including institution of a vigilance probe.
In regard to the deposit collection scam, the state government has appointed a Commission of Inquiry, created a Rs 300 crore corpus fund, registered 388 cases and arrested 488 persons, he said.
Reiterating his anti-Centre stand, Naveen said: “We have upheld the interest of the state whenever it has been neglected by the Centre. We will continue to fight for the rights of people of our state”.
Criticising the Congress for its allegation that the state government is taking the credit for all the Central assistance and trying to project them as its own achievements, Patnaik said: “They should understand that the central assistance is not a gift that the Centre is giving to the states.”
Earlier, Congress leader Harichandan had said that Odisha had received maximum Central funds during the UPA regime. While Rs 7,910 crore was released to Odisha during the NDA government, the UPA government had provided more than Rs 52,000 crore to the state.
