Netaji Subhas Birth Soil Yatra national convenor and Utkala Bikasha Juba Parisada president Debiprasad Prusti has urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to stop siphoning off huge funds in renovating a Government quarter near the Raj Bhavan here.
Prusti, in a letter, reminded Patnaik that he had appealed to MLAs, Ministers and officers to maintain simple lifestyle and, instead, give priority to serve the citizens.
“Nearly Rs 1 crore is being spent for the Government quarter near the Madhusudan stature. This is in contrast to the advice you had given to Ministers and MLA a few months back,” said Prusti.
He mentioned in the letter that during the reign of Chief Minister Biju Patnaik on his advice, the then Minister and now Andhra Pradesh Government had vacated the Government quarter as he had a house in the city. He performed his Ministerial works from his two-room house, which was discoloured and de-plastered then.
Prusti too mentioned about Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das, who had once refused to wear a fine dhoti given by a friend, and about former Chief Minister Nabakrushna Choudhury, who had worn a patched dhoti explaining himself as the first servant of people as the CM.
Quoting Utkalgaurav Madhusudan Das, Prusti said that if persons having vested interests and hankering after luxury would be in power, the State and its people are bound to suffer.
He urged the CM to stop spending so much money for renovation of a single Government quarter.
