Bhubaneswar: The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in the Odisha Legislative Assembly on Thursday announced that it would not back down from its demand for a House Committee probe into what it described as the “rising” atrocities against women and the “sexual exploitation” of girls in residential schools.The Congress legislators have been stalling the Assembly proceedings for several days to protest against the alleged increase in crimes against women and girl students.“We have been demanding a House Committee probe into the rising crimes against women and girl students in residential schools, particularly in tribal-dominated districts. The House Committee will have members from all political parties, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, the treasury bench members are not willing to comply with our demand,” CLP leader Rama Chandra Kadam, flanked by all his party’s legislators, declared at a press conference held at Congress Bhawan.Veteran Congress lawmaker Tara Prasad Bahinipati, explaining the rationale behind the House Committee demand, said such a body was necessary to conduct an in-depth study into the reasons for the increase in crimes against women and girls. Based on the committee’s recommendations, new laws could be introduced to curb such incidents.“We are ready to cooperate with the state government. However, it does not appear that the state’s BJP government is ready to listen to our demand. Speaker Surama Padhy must also consider our demand sympathetically instead of working under pressure from the treasury bench members. Unless and until a House Committee is formed, we will not cooperate in the functioning of the House,” declared Bahinipati.There was, however, no response from the ruling BJP at the time this report was filed.The Congress lawmakers present alongside the CLP leader Rama Chandra Kadam included Sofia Firdous (Barabati-Cuttack), Ashok Kumar Das (Basudevpur), Dasarathi Gomango (Mohana), Kadraka Appalaswamy (Rayagada), Mangu Khilla (Chitrakonda), Nilamadhab Hikaka (Bissam Cuttack), Pabitra Saunta (Laxmipur), Prafulla Chandra Pradhan (G. Udayagiri), Sagar Charan Das (Bhawanipatna), Satyajeet Gomango (Gunupur), and Tara Prasad Bahinipati (Jeypore).
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