Patnaik justifies removal of Ministers

By Our Staff Reporter

BHUBANESWAR, AUG.9. The Orissa Chief Minister, Mr. Naveen Patnaik, today said that there was no option but to remove three of his Ministerial colleagues in view of the allegations of corruption against them.

Giving a statement on the issue raised by the Opposition MLAs regarding the recent removal of three Ministers, Mr. Patnaik told the State Assembly that it was ``painful to remove Ministerial colleagues but there was no option in this case''.

The Chief Minister said as his Government was committed to provide a clean and transparent administration, the allegations were referred to the State Vigilance, who after preliminary enquiries, found certain prima facie cases.

The Vigilance Department has already registered separate cases against the three former Ministers - Mr. Nalinikanta Mohanty, Mr. Prasanta Nanda, and Dr. Kamala Das. The three were removed on July 9 and the Vigilance cases were registered against them subsequently.

Mr. Patnaik, however, did not give details of the charges against the former Ministers saying that it may prejudice the process of investigation.

Observing that a vast majority of the people of the State had brought the Biju Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance to power in the hope of getting an efficient and transparent Government, Mr. Patnaik said: ``We want the people to know that there is a Government which works, and works honestly.

People's faith is our only asset and it is with the blessings of the people we are to build a new and corruption free Orissa which would stand and be counted among the prosperous States of our nation,'' he said.

Reacting to Mr. Patnaik's statement, the three former Ministers said that their removal had tarnished their image.

On the issue raised by some members of the ruling alliance regarding corruption cases in the Water Resources Department during the previous Congress government, Mr. Patnaik said that the State Government had referred 56 cases of the Water Resources Department to the Central Bureau of Investigation. After preliminary enquiries, the CBI had registered the first batch of 10 cases on July 20, naming several contractors, senior officials and the then Minister as accused, he said.

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