Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik reportedly received shock of the day as he opened newspapers early in the morning on Friday.
The newspapers carried the State Cabinet’s Thursday decision of providing bonus of Rs 100 to farmers per quintal of paddy. The State Government would take a burden of Rs 200 crore towards the bonus. Though a decision was taken by the Cabinet, all the Cabinet members had been requested not to reveal it outside. They were told that the Chief Minister would make an announcement in this regard at a public meeting at Bargarh on Friday. So, Patnaik’s announcement at Bargarh, the State’s rice bowl, on the day lost all its importance as it had already been known to one and all.
Now, the Government has to find out who actually leaked the news to the media. While maintaining secrecy, the Government had avoided Press briefing on the plea of model code of conduct for the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls scheduled on January 8.The Cabinet decision was taken following a meeting in this regard between a delegation of ruling BJD MlAs of western Odisha and some senior Ministers with the Chief Minister and high officials last week. The delegates had told the Chief Minister the bonus decision has to be taken immediately to avoid facing the wrath of farmers in the ensuing general elections. Significantly, the decision was also taken a couple of days after a group of farmer leaders blocked the CM’s road to the State Secretariat.
