137 criminal cases against public servants in Odisha this year: CM

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said here on Monday the state vigilance had registered 137 criminal cases against public servants this year.

"In 2019, the state vigilance has registered 137 criminal cases, including 26 for possession of disproportionate assets, 67 relating to demand and acceptance of bribe and 44 for misappropriation of public fund," the Chief Minister said during a discussion on Home and General Administration departments in the Assembly. 

The overall law and order and crime situation in the state had remained largely under control, he added.

According to Patnaik, the situation relating to Left wing extremism has improved substantially during the last few years. Only a few pockets in the hilly and difficult terrains and those bordering Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh remained the areas of concern, he said and added, 19 hardcore CPI (Maoist) cadres were killed in 2018 and 7 this year.

Maintaining that protection of women, children and weaker sections is top priorities of the government, he said specialised investigation units for dealing with crimes against women have been constituted in 29 districts in addition to women and children desks and integrated anti-human trafficking Units.

He said all rape cases involving minors were being treated as red-flag cases for better monitoring of investigation, leading to increase in conviction rate.

The Chief Minister also announced that the state secretariat would now be called Lok Seva Bhawan. IANS