Unlike other political parties, the CPI(M) which had seat adjustments with the ruling BJD in last elections, has not sought a CBI probe into the multi-crore mines scam in Orissa but demanded that the ongoing vigilance inquiry into the scandal be done properly.
Blaming the erstwhile Congress government and the decade-old Naveen Patnaik regime in the state for the looting of precious minerals from Orissa for years, CPI(M) leaders at a workshop were apprehensive that the state would be bereft of any mineral resources in the next 30 years.
“It is high time that we rise to the call of the hour and protect and preserve our rich mineral resources,” said CPI(M) state secretary Janardan Pati on the concluding day of its three-day workshop here yesterday.
Pati alleged that the present government in the state is mindlessly giving away mining leases to multi-national companies at throw-away prices.
He was also critical of the ongoing mining scam probe by the state vigilance department saying the anti-corruption wing of the police was not doing its work properly.
It was for the soft attitude of the vigilance that the erstwhile mines director of the state escaped from an imminent arrest, Pati asserted.
