Bhubaneswar: In a scathing attack directed towards the State government, Odisha BJP General Secretary, Prithviraj Harichandan on Friday accused the government of peddling lies regarding the deaths of COVID warriors in the state.
Addressing a press conference in the city today, Harichandan said, while a state government press release published on October 7, 2020 stated that a list of 60 COVID19 warriors who were martyred in the line of duty was sent to the centre and the centre had only approved only one; in reality, the state government had sent only 47 names.
As per Harichandan's statement, "We have obtained the actual list from the centre and it states that out of the details of 47 martyrs, the state government has sent to the centre, the compensation claims of only 42 have been submitted."
"Only one claim has been settled and the other 41 is still under scrutiny of insurance companies," added Harichandan.
Harichandan further lambasted the state government for making false allegations against the centre about the actual number of deaths of Covid warriors in the state. "At a time when Coronavirus is spreading its tentacles across the state and devouring COVID warriors one after another, the state government could not have been more insensible by spreading lies through their official press release," said Harichandan.
Besides, the state government had promised to provide a sum of Rs 50 lakh as compensation to the family of each of the deceased COVID warriors, but till now not a single family has been compensated by the state government, accused Harichandan.
"It is a shame that the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) not only backed out on its promises, but is spreading lies on the actual number," Harichandan added.
No response has been received from the ruling-BJD on the matter.
(Edited By Bikram Keshari Jena)
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