LSS seeks Odisha CM to provide facilities for people detained under MISA
Union Minister Tomar also writes Patnaik to recognise Emergency detainees
BHOPAL / Rajya Sabha MP and national president of Loktantra Senani Sangh(LSS) Kailash Soni along with five other parliamentarians on Wednesday met Odisha Chief Minister Navin Patnaik. They demanded that the government of the coastal state financial and other special facilities for those detained during the Emergency under the Maintenance and Internal Security Act (MISA).
Soni including members of parliament Rajendra Gehlot (general secretary of LSS), Ashok Vajpayee, Prasanna Acharya, Amar Patnaik and Sasmit Patra met CM Patnaik in Delhi. Patnaik was on a visit to the national capital. All six parliamentarians including three of Biju Janta Dal, led by Soni sought that the Emergency detainees be treated as freedom fighters and be given all facilities which are being provided in 11 states of the country.
National secretary of the LSS Madan Batham informed that the group of MPs reminded the CM that the Biju Janta Dal had promised in its election manifesto during the Assembly polls to provide financial and other facilities to the ‘Emergency Warriors’ but the Odisha government has not fulfilled this commitment yet.
Batham said that the CM assured the group and said the Odisha government would consider the issue positively and decide it soon.
In Madhya Pradesh, MISA detainees, dubbed “Democracy Warrior” draw a monthly honorarium of more than Rs 25,000.
Drawing the attention of the CM, the LSS chief, Soni said Navin’s father late Biju Patnaik, the former CM of Odisha was also detained for a long time during the Emergency and his sacrifice is unforgettable, Batham also said.
The group briefed the CM about the facilities and recognition extended to detainees in states like Madhya Pradesh, UP, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and other states. They claimed that in these states, the detainees are considered at par with the freedom fighters and given pensions and other facilities.
