Bhubaneswar: A day after coming under direct attack over proposed plans of Sports and Youth Affairs department to construct a sports complex on Kalinga Studio land, efforts are now on by the State government to settle the controversy down.
Odisha Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) Minister, Prafulla Samal on Monday made an all-out effort to clarify that the State government doesn’t have any plans to hand over Kalinga Studio land for any other purpose as mega plans are afoot already for renovation.
“Kalinga Studio is a heritage and it is not important what a department proposes as CM Naveen Patnaik has not taken any decision. Rather the government has sanctioned Rs 2 crore for renovation of Kalinga Studio,” said Samal.
Government will never accept any proposals for any sports complex as IDCO has been given charge for renovation and development of Kalinga Studio, the minister added.
As per proposals, State government is keen on developing Kalinga studio on the lines of other important studios including, RK Studios and Gemini Studios.
The Minister’s clarification came after politicians and eminent personalities, including that of the Odia film industry, expressed resentment over Sports and Youth Services department Secretary, Vishal Dev’s letter to the General Administration department with a proposal to develop a sports complex inside Kalinga Studio.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who expressed concern over such proposal, said that he will take up the issue of modernization and revival of Kalinga Studio with Union I&B Minister, Smriti Irani.
Following outrage, Vishal Dev in a message to journalists on WhatsApp wrote, “I am surprised how this letter has been twisted to create an unnecessary controversy. Since the city is growing, we requested GA Deptt to identify land patches for setting up sports complexes and playgrounds in different parts of the city. The letter about Kalinga Studio was also written with the same objective. There has been no decision at the Govt level. It is a simple proposal from our side.”