Our officials got us wrong answers for House queries: BJD

BHUBANESWAR: Bureaucrats and other government officials in Odisha could be in trouble over preparing "wrong replies" in response to questions posed in the assembly, leading to embarrassment for the incumbent BJD government, its ministers, and party legislators.
On Tuesday, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, BJD MLA, charged government officials with preparing factually wrong and contradictory replies to questions asked by legislators on the floor of the assembly.
Raising the issue during zero hour, Soumya said these officers are portraying the ministers as liars by preparing factually incorrect answers. "Why are the government officers lying?" he questioned, while drawing attention of the speaker, Bikram Keshari Arukha, to the matter.
Soumya, a media baron, referred to a starred question he had asked excise minister, Ashwini Kumar Patra, on July 2, the first day of the current session.
He had asked whether Odisha plans to adopt the Kerala and Tamil Nadu model to reduce liquor consumption in the state and the target set for reduction of alcohol consumption.
Soumya had cited National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS 5) findings and said liquor consumption in these two states had fallen sharply, while Odisha's consumption had increased.
Patra replied that there is no rising trend of liquor consumption in Odisha.
Percentage of people consuming liquor has gradually declined in the past five years, he had said in his reply.
Soumya then quoted the NFHS 5, the data for 2019-2021, showing 4.3% women in Odisha consume liquor, compared to 2.4% in 2015-2016. Nationally, liquor consumption increased from 1.3% to 1.4% among women.
"My arithmetic is poor. I would like the honourable speaker to explain how liquor use has fallen among women in Odisha," the Khandapada MLA said on Tuesday. The minister's reply doesn't mention data on liquor consumption among women in Odisha, which has increased, he added.