Manganese ore in enemy hands

Expressbuzz, Sept 23, 2009

BHUBANESWAR: Upping the ante against the State Government over the multi-crore mining scam, president of the Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) KP Singhdeo has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram demanding a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the matter.

Addressing a news conference here today, Singhdeo said that manganese ore illegally mined and transported from the State has landed in the hands of enemies and this should be probed by the NIA. It is a strategic matter, Singhdeo said, adding that illegal mining from Keonjhar is only the tip of the iceberg.

The OPCC president said that officials from the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) had come to the State to probe the matter after the issue was taken up with the Centre and it has found largescale irregularities. Stating that Congress has all along raised the issue in the Assembly and outside, Singhdeo said that it was Congress MLAs who raised the issue in the Assembly. Former Union minister and Kalahandi MP Bhakta Charan Das also raised the issue at the national level, he said.

The OPCC president had yesterday written to Union Minister for Mines BK Handique demanding a probe by the NIA into the matter. But what has surprised political observers here is that despite repeated demands from the State Congress leaders, the Centre has so far not acted tough on the State Government.

After repeated demands, a team from the IBM was despatched to the State to inquire into the matter. Sources, however, maintained that the IBM does not have jurisdiction over such matters.

Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Harendra Mirdha, who is here to assess the progress of membership drive of the party, blamed the State Government for its lack of commitment to implement the welfare measures launched by the Centre.

Mirdha said that the Centre has provided sufficient funds in the health, education and infrastructure sectors. But the State Government has failed to utilise the funds, he said.

The Congress leaders also criticised the State Government for the arrest of Lakshman Choudhury, a journalist of Parlakhemundi, on the grounds of his having links with the Naxalites.