Bhubaneswar: The ruling BJD on Monday lashed out at Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for allegedly leveling false allegations against the state government frequently.
“Pradhan alleged that the Odisha Government changed the norms of no tender in Public Works from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 Lakhs and encouraged corruption. This statement is completely false, concocted and baseless,” said party spokesperson Sasmit Patra.
“The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India firstly changed the norms for no tender in Public Works from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 Lakhs and based on this decision in the Union Government, the State Government decided to implement it,” Patra said.
He said before implementation, the matter was brought before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Odisha Legislative Assembly which has representation from the Congress and BJP MLAs apart from the BJD and the PAC recommended that such a norm change should be undertaken.
He further said that the State Government took the recommendations of the PAC and the Centre’s financial norms in this regard and accordingly modified the norms.
“Unfortunately, Dharmendra Pradhan is wasting too much of his time in touring Odisha neglecting his own work in Delhi and is therefore also unaware about these norms of the Union Government of which he is himself a minister,” Patra said.
“This shows his ignorance and desperation to indulge in falsehood to hoodwink the people of Odisha. His repeated false statements are unbecoming of a central minister and he should check his facts before making irresponsible comments,” he added
