Pained to see politicisation of sensitive cases: Naveen

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday said he was pained to see the politicisation of very sensitive cases for ''narrow vested interest''. He said those doing politics over criminal incidents may not get re-elected to the Assembly.

While replying to a debate on demand discussion of the Home and General Administration departments, he said, ''I am pained to see the politicisation of very sensitive cases for narrow vested interests. This is an injustice to the victims and committed policemen.''

The Chief Minister referred to an instance of a woman police personnel being allegedly physically assaulted by Leader of Opposition Jayanarayan Mishra in Sambalpur. ''Even an on-duty lady officer was physically assaulted. This cannot be tolerated in a civilised society,'' he said.

''With all humility and my experience in this House, I can say that those who work for the people return to this House and those who do politics over crime and stall development for political reasons do not return to this August House,'' the Chief Minister said.

He said people are watching the Opposition's conduct and ''how desperate they are to stall developmental work''.

Naveen said there has been considerable improvement in the Maoist scenario in the State and the overall law and order situation has largely remained peaceful.

''With Lord Jagannath's blessings and cooperation from the people of Odisha, the overall law and order situation has largely remained peaceful. There have been no major law and order incidents on students, services, industrial, labour and agrarian fronts. The overall Maoist scenario has also shown remarkable improvement,'' he said.

Stating that more than 5,000 candidates have been appointed in the Odisha Police and the Prisons this year, Naveen said further clearance has been given to fill up more than 3,300 posts in Police and almost a thousand in Prisons and Fire Services.

Under the 5T charter, Odisha Police has launched the 'Monitoring of Atrocity, National Commission Cases and Assistance to Victims' (MANAV) portal in August to expedite the investigation cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and for timely delivery of compensation to the victims, the Chief Minister said. He said Odisha government adopts zero tolerance towards crime, particularly those against women. ''We have ensured free, fair, and impartial investigation,'' he said.

Naveen said ‘Mo Sarkaar’ (My government) initiative has instilled people's confidence in public services. Recruitment examinations by the three recruiting commissions are being conducted regularly. This year, they have recommended more than 12,000 candidates for appointment, the Chief Minister added.