Governor accepts resignation of WCD Minister

"The resignation of Mallick, which was forwarded by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik yesterday, has been accepted by the Governor," Raj Bhavan sources here said.

Mallick had tendered her resignation yesterday on moral grounds following scathing attack by the opposition parties after gross irregularities were detected by the anti-corruption Vigilance department in the purchase of dal for various schemes, for which WCD was the nodal department.

The substandard dal was supplied to about 9.5 million children and pregnant women under mid-day-meal (MDM) and supplementary nutrition programme (SNP) respectively.

While Mallick stepped down, the state government initiated action against three IAS officers for alleged involvement in the dal scam.

The actions came two days after the state anti-corruption vigilance department submitted its preliminary report on the Rs 700 crore dal scam.