Congress Rajya Sabha member Ranjib Biswal has publicly admitted that he paid bribe to obtain Government permission for a project of his at Phulnakhara on the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack highway.
Biswal said so to mock at the Naveen Painak Government’s ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative in which the Chief Minister and top officials directly talk to the people, who visit different Government establishments, to get feedbacks about the responses they receive from the concerned officers.
He was taking part in discussions held on the occasion of the annual function of TV channel Kanak News, owned by BJD leader and MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, here on Friday.
Citing his “personal experience” about the prevalent practice of corruption, Biswal said he could not secure permission from the BDO (Block Development Officer) for six long months for his “small project” at Phulnakahara. Finally, he had to pay an amount of Rs 40,000 as bribe to get the requisite clearance, he added.
Interestingly, as political observers point out, Biswal made an admission about paying the bribe forgetting that a “bribe-giver” is as much an offender in the eyes of law as a recipient of an illegal gratification. This was ruled by the Orissa High Court in early 1980s terming Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik as a bribe-giver, for which he had to lose his Minister’s post in the JB Patnaik Government.