Pradhan pulls up Odisha CM for "late" anti- corruption directive

Coming down heavily on Naveen Patnaik for directing the government officers to stop receiving bribes as commission from contractors, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said it took 17 years for the Odisha Chief Minister to wake up to the corrupt practices that has been prevalent under the BJD's rule.

"The Chief Minister directed DMs (District Magistrates) to stop receiving commission from contractors. This means the commission business was going on from the last 17 years," Pradhan said.

The Minister further demanded a disclosure from the Chief Minister as to how much 'commission' has been collected from the contractors.

He asked Patnaik to come out with a White Paper clarifying as to what percentage of work orders were bribes and how much work orders were given to contractors without tenders.

In response, BJD MP Baijayant Jay Panda tweeted, "Good that corruption is getting targetted. I'd repeatedly pointed out internally. Strong steps needed, not just at dists but much higher up (sic)".