‘How 450 helipads were constructed in Odisha to land Naveen Patnaik aide’s chopper’

BHUBANESWAR: Days after Odisha commerce and transport minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena called for a thorough probe into V K Pandian’s helicopter rides, state law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on Sunday said the govt will investigate how 450 helipads were constructed to land the chopper carrying the bureaucrat-turned-politician.
Pandian, a close aide of former chief minister Naveen Patnaik, took helicopter rides between Feb and Sept last year during BJD govt to interact with the public and gather feedback.
“We will investigate who covered the cost of the helicopter rides. Clarity must be provided on this matter. It needs a thorough probe. At the govt level, helipads were constructed wherever the helicopter landed, and govt funds were used. He (Pandian) visited 400-450 places. It is not clear who authorized this and how the authorization was issued. A department secretary does not have the authority to use helicopters. How, then, was permission granted?” asked Harichandan. Pandian was the 5T secretary at the time.
Harichandan, also the works minister, added that BJP govt will include everything in the investigation. “After the investigation is complete, we will consider the appropriate punishment,” he told reporters.
Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan, a group of RTI activists, staged a demonstration on July 24, alleging misuse of helicopters and chartered flights by Pandian, who took voluntary retirement from IAS in October and joined BJD the following month. He campaigned extensively for the party in Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
In response to the ministers’ calls for an investigation into the helicopter rides, BJD functionary Sambit Routray said, “BJP and Congress functionaries should focus on whether there has been development across the state. Why are they concerned with who rode what?”
Pandian took helicopter rides between Feb and Sept last year, when BJD was in office, to interact with the public. ‘We will probe who covered the cost of the rides,’ Odisha minister Harichandan said.