Opposition seeks Himirika scalp for ‘illegal act’

BHUBANESWAR: A day after ST and SC development minister Lal Bihari Himirika kicked up a controversy by disclosing names of rape survivors, it came to light that another minister, Debi Prasad Mishra, too had committed similar slip-up in the ongoing session of the assembly.
Debi, who holds the portfolio of school and mass education, on February 19 submitted in the assembly a list of 12 girls, four rape survivors and eight others, who faced other types of harassment in schools.He mentioned their names, schools and class details. Debi gave the reply in response to a question by MLA Krishna Chandra Sagaria. The lawmaker had asked the number of incidents in which schoolgirls were harassed in past five years and action taken against the erring teachers/employees.
BJP demanded the ministers’ resignations and apology from chief minister Naveen Patnaik. “This is a serious lapse. The chief minister should tender a public apology, remove the erring ministers and take disciplinary action against officers concerned,” BJP women’s wing state president Simantini Jena told the media.
BJP leader Sajjan Sharma pointed out that a Supreme Court bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat in 2006 had issued orders, debarring disclosure of names of rape survivors while IPC Section 228A makes such disclosure illegal. The BJP leaders said while there is a spurt in incidents of rapes in schools, the government is indifferent. The survivors should be compensated for their ordeals, a BJP leader said.
Leader of opposition Narasingha Mishra said the repeat of such grave mistake shows the government is either ignorant of law or thinks it is above law. “Both are highly condemnable. It was also duty of the assembly staff to ensure that such an error didn’t creep in,” he said.
BJD spokesperson and MLA Amar Prasad Satpathy admitted the mistakes and said corrective measures can be taken. “The information can be expunged from assembly records. Unnecessary raking up of the issue would only mean further exposing the survivors. This should be avoided,” Satpathy said.
Samajwadi Party Odisha unit demanded ouster of Himirika. In a letter addressed to the chief minister, the party’s state president Rabi Behera wrote, “The minister should be sacked immediately. He should also apologize to women of the state.”