PCC president Niranjan Patnaik visited Kanpur Irrigation project near Joda under the Champua Assembly constituency of Keonjhar and held a meeting with the project-affected people. It is alleged that land oustees were threatened by the district administation to part with their ancestral home land.
On his way from Keonjhar to the project site, Patnaik was accorded warm welcome at Basudevpur from where thousands of people led him to the affected area.
In his address to the affected people, the PCC chief said the present Governments stand for 3Ps (Prachar, Pratisruti,Pratarana) and work only for rich people and corporate houses like Adani and Ambani. He lamented that youths were roaming jobless and farmers were agitating on the street.
Due to the wrong policy of the both the Central and State Governments, the Kanpur Irrigation project which had been started by the Congress Government is now incomplete, told Patnaik, adding that he was with the common people in their struggle against the injustice. He further told that he would meet the Collector, Keonjhar to discuss the problem of the people.
He further told that the Government was collecting highest revenue from Keonjhar and its people couldn't be allowed to live in miserable condition. He assured to urge upon the Collector to spend from the DMF fund if there was scarcity of funds to take forward the project work.
Later, he proceeded to Joda to see how people were living in a very miserable condition due to want of doctors and other paramedical staff and equipment in the Central Hospital, Joda.
He briefed the mediapersons that the health conditions in the mining rich area is in a very miserable conditions and appealed to local youths to fight against the apathetic attitude of the Government.
District Congress president Biplab Mishra, Jadumanai Barik, PC Naik, Ashok Thakkar, Gurubox Singh Alluwalia and AC Das among others were present.