No ‘Ministers vs Officers’ in Odisha, Naveen tells Assembly

Bhubaneswar: Amid opposition allegation of elected leaders being sidelined in Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made statement in the Assembly on Monday and asserted that there is no clash between the roles of Ministers and officers in the state.

It is not ‘Ministers versus officers’ in Odisha, he said, adding that CM grievance cell is always handled by CMO and Ministers are not required to attend the same in Bhubaneswar. The whole exercise is being done in a decentralised and transparent manner, the Chief Minister emphasised.

Once petitions are received, they are sent to the departments concerned. “Where is the issue of ministers versus officers in this? Ministers have played a major role as head of the departments in resolving the petitions.,” the Chief Minister stressed, rejecting the opposition allegation.

The CM’s statement came even as the question hour in the Assembly was stalled as opposition BJP members created a ruckus alleging that democracy has been destroyed in the state. They claimed that Ministers were sidelined as bureaucrats dominated the administration. Both BJP and Congress have been alleging that democracy is in danger in the state due to domination by officers at the cost of elected representatives, including Ministers.

“My government has always given top priority to peoples’ grievance redressal. Before Covid happened the CMO used to hold grievance hearing in Bhubaneswar,” he said.