Orissa Assembly concerned over future of OLIC

Bhubaneswar, Nov 22 (UNI) Members cutting across party lines in the State Assembly, today expressed concern over the fate of the Orissa Lift Irrigation Corporation (OLIC) and urged the government to resolve the issue.

Participating in an adjournment motion and a calling attention motion on strike in OLIC which paralysed LI points in Orissa, the members urged the government to clear the pending salary arrears of the OLIC employees and restore the LI points to save the standing Rabi crops.

Replying to the debate State Steel and Mines Minister Padmanav Behera admitted that the OLIC employees have not received their salary from last 20 months but maintained that the government had made provision in the budget and also in the first supplementary budget to provide their salary arrears.

Responding to the demand of the members to regularise the OLIC employees and revamp the corporation, the Minister said a cabinet sub committee under the chairmanship of Finance Minister P C Ghadei has been constituted to look into the problems and submit the report.

Mr Behera said the government was taking necessary steps to revamp the OLIC and this would be taken up after the Cabinet sub-committee submitted its report to the government.

This caused a lot of discontent among the members, who demanded that the government was taking the serious issue lightly and warned that any delay in resolving the issue would affect the livelihood of lakhs of farmers across the state.

Speaker Maheswar Mohanty while sharing his concern with the members directed that the cabinet sub committee should submit its report within 15 days so that the government could resolve the issue early.

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