Former PCC president Niranjan Patnaik has contributed Rs 5 lakh to the PCC for relief work in calamity-hit areas. He has also requested all Congress MlAs and MPs to contribute an amount not less than their one month’s salary to the PCC.
Similarly he has suggested all former Ministers, MlAs, MPs to contribute one month’s pension. Congress leaders and workers should “draw inspiration from the work of great Congress leader and legend of Odisha Gopabandhu Das in serving people selflessly as they struggle to grapple with the devastations,” he said on Saturday.
In a letter to PCC president Jayadev Jena, Patnaik requested him to invite senior Central leaders to visit the affected areas so that the support that the state has already received from Central agencies could be further augmented.
Patnaik said that during his visits to Baleswar and Baripada he got the distinct impression that the State Government was busier in publicity rather than in taking advantage of the opportunity created by timely forecast by the IMD to provide succour to the affected population.