Bhubaneswar, Sept. 12: Congress chief whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati today threatened to "beat up officials on the third floor" of the secretariat (where the Odisha chief minister's office is located) alleging that it was the "fountainhead of corruption".

"Collection of pc (percentage) is rampant on the third floor. I will go and beat up the officials there. Let the chief minister arrest me if he has the guts," said the firebrand MLA from Jeypore.

BJD spokesperson Samir Ranjan Dash sought to downplay the issue and said: "Bahinipati is in the habit of making irresponsible remarks. He should not be taken seriously."

Bahinipati was reacting to the Opposition's allegation that corruption was rampant in the state, and the Odisha government was promoting it even as chief minister Naveen Patnaik had announced that there would be "zero tolerance" to the pc (percentage) system.

In July, Naveen had asked all the collectors to end the pc system at the grassroots level.

BJD vice-president and minister Surya Narayan Patro had earlier triggered a controversy by saying that the officials collecting pc should be beaten up.

The call to beat up corrupt officials was first given by former chief minister Biju Patnaik in the 90s. He had asked people to send a telegram to his office and then beat up the corrupt officials. He had even opened a special cell in the CMO in this regard.

His son, Naveen, issued a directive to end corruption, albeit in a different way.

Raising the issue in the Odisha Assembly today, leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said: "Though late, the chief minister has firmly announced that there will be zero tolerance to pc."

"However, Naveen does the opposite of what he says," said Mishra, citing an instance how a corrupt engineer was rewarded in Balangir district and how an upright engineer was punished instead.

He said Rajya Sabha member A.U. Singh Deo had written to panchayati raj minister Pradeep Maharathy to transfer assistant engineer of Balangir block Brushav Hota and post Banchhabrata Pandey in his place. The minister had acted on the MP's recommendation and effected the transfer.

Mishra wondered how Pandey, against whom a vigilance inquiry was pending, could be posted. He said: "On the other hand, Hota was punished because he had raised objection to the utilisation of MP Local Area Development fund for religious institutions."

"This shows that the Naveen Patnaik government is promoting corruption," said the veteran Congress leader. He referred to agriculture minister Damodar Rout's observation that corruption could not be eradicated completely.

Supporting Mishra, BJP legislature party leader K.V. Singh Deo said: "This matter needs to be inquired into and action needs to be taken against the erring persons."

Rout clarified that he had said the pc system was a product of the British colonial legacy and this deep-rooted system could not be eradicated completely as acquisition of wealth was deep-rooted in the human pysche.

"However, the call of the chief minister to end corruption is a welcome and timely move. Its impact is being noticed at the grassroots level," he said.