Gamang bashes Naveen, says CM has no field or file knowledge

By Binita Jaiswal
Bhubaneswar, Aug. 30: Former chief minister and veteran Congress leader Giridhar Gamang on Thursday bashed the chief minister Naveen Patnaik unmercifully for his “failure” to understand the “ground realities” in the cholera affected pockets in Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput districts and lack of administrative acumen on how to gear up the state machinery to tackle the epidemic.

“There is a government in Orissa. There is also a chief minister.. .but there is no administration anywhere in the state at all. This chief minister Naveen Patnaik does not have field knowledge nor file knowledge (read capacity to review and assess implementation and progress of socio-economic schemes), Mr Gamang said.

The former chief minister – who represents Koraput constituency in Lok Sabha that has come under the grips of cholera – was sounded acerbic following mounting death toll in the undivided Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput districts (KBK region).

“The chief minister Mr Patnaik does not have geographic knowledge of Orissa nor has the capability to assess if the funds provided by the Union government for uplifting the tribals in the KBK area has been properly utilised or not. He just wants to rule over the people,” Mr Gamang said at a crowded media conference here.

Pradesh Congress Committee president Jayadev Jena, who on Thursday returned to Bhubaneswar after a four-day visit to the cholera affected villages, charged the chief minister Mr Patnaik with “utterly” neglecting the KBK people.

“During our visit to the KBK area we found that the main reason of people suffering from cholera and diarrhea is consumption of contaminated water and food. As the people do not have rice to eat, they are being forced to eat mango kernels. Very often mango kernels turn poisonous and leads to large-scale deaths,” Mr Jena said.

The PCC chief produced mango kernel powder and some leafy herbs that he had collected from the affected households to drive his point home.

Mr Jena accused that although the Union government had provided huge funds under the Nation Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) to provide job and food security to the poor people, not a single pie had percolated down to the affected pockets. He showed photocopies of several job cards that did not have mention about people being provided jobs.

Fake certificate accused says he helped girls and boys find eligible grooms and brides

By Sanghamitra Pradhan

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 11:Anant Pradhan, one of the key members of the fake certificate racket caught on Friday evening, told police during interrogation on Saturday that a majority of his “clients” were “half-educated” girls who wanted higher secondary, degree and post graduation certificates to get “eligible” grooms.

“Parents and even unmarried girls used to approach us for certificates to get educated grooms. Many of the girls who got certificates from us are well-settled now with educated and high-salaried employees,” Anant told the police during interrogation.

Elaborating detail about the interrogation, Kharavela Nagar inspector Bishu Prasad Das said the accused had also said that some young men had obtained fake certificates so as to marry educated and beautiful girls.

Anant, his friends Nilamadhab Mishra and Panchanan Senapati were arrested on Friday evening by the Bhubaneswar police after investigation revealed that the duo headed a fake certificate syndicate operating in Orissa and its neighbouring states. They were forwarded to court on Saturday.

The duo successfully duplicated certificates of prominent colleges and universities and sold them to “customers” at hefty prices ranging between Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per copy, the police said, adding, even in some cases certificates were sold at around Rs 20,000.

Interestingly, Pradhan, Mishra and Senapati would introduce themselves to customers as journalists of local Oriya newspapers.

Following close on the heels of the fake medicine racket, the latest education certificate fraud has put the education department in a fix. The higher education minister Samir Dey has directed the officers at various levels, including the varsity heads to initiate a probe.

The kingpin of the fake certificate network, Braja Kishore Jena is still absconding, police said.

Several stamps, CDs, a laptops, forged certificates and mark-sheets were seized.

Those two arrested hail from Balasore district. Pradhan has confessed before the police that he used to contact prospective customers and negotiate the price, while Jena was instrumental in issuing forged documents.