Bhubaneswar: While Orissa government is
under attack for multi-crore mining scandal, Opposition
Congress on Saturday raised another Rs 134 crore scam in procurement of agricultural equipment.
The issue was raised in the assembly by Congress chief
whip Prasad Harichandan while participating in a discussion on
an adjournment motion.
"I have evidence of a ruling party MLA bringing this
scam to the Agriculture minister's attention. Though the
minister ordered an inquiry into the allegation, later it was
dropped," Harichandan claimed telling the House that he would
lay all related documents for examination.
The government, however, refuted the allegation and
challenged the Congress member to prove charges.
Not disclosing name of the member, Harichandan claimed
that the ruling party MLA had written a letter to the
Agriculture minister on October 2, 2009 highlighting the scam.
"Based on the MLA's allegation, Agriculture minister
had also ordered an inquiry", he said adding that the inquiry
was abruptly terminated for mysterious reasons.
The concerned MLA had also requested the minister to
drop the inquiry in a subsequent letter on November 3, 2009,
he pointed out.
Pleading ignorance about the matter, Agriculture
minister Damodar Rout, said he was waiting for the relevant
documents from Harichandan for examination.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, November 21, 2009, 21:24