PL Punia at a media conference in Bhubaneswar on Friday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 2: Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes P.L. Punia today criticised Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik for not dropping health minister Damodar Rout from the ministry despite criminal cases having been filed against him for his alleged anti-Dalit remarks.

Taking a hard stance on the issue, Punia said: “I will suggest the chief minister to drop Rout from the ministry. It is the prerogative of the chief minister to keep or drop anyone from his ministry. The chief minister should decide whether to keep a criminal in his government.”

However, Punia said the Odisha government had assured him of not providing protection to Rout to fight his case in the court. On the suggestion of the commission, the Odisha home department has written a letter to the advocate general, asking him to appear against Rout when his case came up for hearing in the Orissa High Court.

The Kujang police registered a case against Rout on August 16, 2010, for his controversial remarks. He had secured bail from the local judicial magistrate’s court.

Subsequently, Rout moved the high court to seek dropping of charges against him. The court had restrained the police from taking action against Rout till final disposal of the case.

Punia said: “What do you call Rout when criminal cases have been filed against him?”

He, however, dismissed suggestions that the commission was adopting a partisan attitude while dealing with the cases against BJD ministers. The commission had earlier criticised former agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy in the Pipili gangrape case. It blamed him of providing shelter to the main accused.

Rout reacted cautiously to Punia’s remarks. “To my mind without having prima facie evidence a case has been registered against me. Apprehending foul play, I approached the Orissa High Court to quash the FIR against me. The court has issued a stay order. Till the case is disposed it will not be appropriate to give any reaction to Punia’s comment.”

Punia also criticised the Naveen Patnaik government for not taking steps to improve the economic condition of the people belonging to the scheduled caste community. “Cases of atrocities against the community members are on the rise in Odisha compared to the all India average. Cases of crime against the scheduled caste people in the state have risen by 18.3 per cent in the past one year,” said Punia.

The commission also came down heavily on the Odisha government for not complying with the norms related to the reservation of jobs for the scheduled caste while making a review of its works for benefit of the Dalit communities. “In all kinds of jobs starting from Grade A to D, various posts have not been filled up according to the reservation norms. I have suggested the government to take up a special recruitment drive,” he said.