Odisha: BJD MLAs protest against BJP Govt over Mission Shakti restructuring

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], February 19 (ANI): Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLAs staged a protest inside the Odisha Assembly premises on Wednesday, opposing the BJP-led state government's restructuring of Mission Shakti groups.
The protest took place under the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik.
BJD MLA Arun Kumar Sahoo criticized the government's handling of the situation, stating, "For more than six days, members of Jeevika Mission and Mission Shakti have been demonstrating before the Assembly... The current government doesn't want to listen to their demands... The members have been working with the missions for many years, but this government wants to drive them out... We are protesting to attract the attention of the government."
Earlier in the day, BJD MLAs raised the issue inside the Assembly, leading Speaker Surama Padhy to adjourn the session until 4 pm. The protest comes amid ongoing demonstrations by members of Jeevika Mission and Mission Shakti, who have been demanding government intervention for more than six days.
BJP MLA Ashok Mohanty countered the allegations, accusing BJD of politicizing the issue. "BJD is doing politics on Mission Shakti groups. When BJD was in power, they were the ones politicizing the Mission Shakti groups. The BJP government wants to strengthen these groups. BJD has no real issues, so they have raised this matter," Mohanty said.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government constituted a high-level fact-finding committee consisting of the additional chief secretary of the home department, the principal secretary, the women and child development department, and the commissioner-cum-secretary, the higher education department, in connection with the death of an engineering student from Nepal in the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) in Bhubaneswar.
Nepal's Ambassador to India, Shankar Sharma, on Wednesday, expressed satisfaction with the prompt action taken by the Indian government and the Odisha state government regarding the recent incident at KIIT University involving the death of a Nepali student.
"We are highly satisfied with the prompt action taken by the Government of India and the Odisha government," Sharma told ANI.
Regarding the student's death, which is being investigated, Sharma said, "In the initial stage, after the unfortunate event which happened in KIIT, Odisha, the university people closed the hostel and the institution and took all the students to the railway station and asked them to go home. It was very unfortunate. Then, we approached the Government of India, the Odisha government and KIIT University. After dialogue with all three, officials from the Odisha government went to KIIT and instructed them to reverse their notices over the suspension of classes and the closure of hostels. KIIT has taken action against many of its officials and security guards. The case of the alleged suicide is being probed." (ANI)