BHUBANESWAR: A coffee table book published by the scheduled tribe (ST) and Scheduled caste (SC) development department of Odisha during the previous Naveen Patnaik govt has come under govt scanner for its “exorbitant cost,” official sources said.
The ST and SC development department has recently sought copies of the book from the Odisha PVTG Empowerment Livelihood Improvements Programme (OPELIP), a state govt programme with financial aid from International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) meant for particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), who got the booked printed through National Geographic Agency.
After the ST and SC development minister Nityananda Gond sought a copy, the department has written to the OPELIP for copies of the book.
As per a reply in assembly by then ST and SC development minister Jagannath Saraka, the govt had spent Rs 57 lakh to publish just 100 coffee table books, with one book costing an average Rs 57000.
Saraka’s reply in assembly on September 30 last year shows, 65 copies were distributed among various stake holders like the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Then MLA Budhan Murmu had sought reply from the minister alleging exorbitant cost of printing the book 100-odd pages and with “questionable quality of content.”