Cuttack: The Rajya Sabha secretariat has issued a notice of breach of parliamentary privilege against Cuttack district collector Dattatraya Bhausaheb Shinde directing the department of personnel and training for appropriate action, following allegations that BJD MP Debashish Samantaray was not invited to a govt programme. The secretariat’s memorandum stated that the matter has been referred for action “as deemed fit”. The notice was issued after Samantaray on Feb 3 flagged the alleged omission of his name from the invite list for the Parakram Diwas celebrations at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birthplace in Cuttack on Jan 23, attended by Vice-President C R Radhakrishnan, and termed it a serious breach of parliamentary privilege.On Feb 5, the issue was raised before the Rajya Sabha chairman by Samantaray and six other BJD MPs — Muzibulla Khan, Sulata Deo, Sasmit Patra, Subhashish Khuntia, Niranjan Bishi and Manas Ranjan Mangaraj.The MPs alleged that the district administration’s omission amounted to a breach of parliamentary privilege, as elected representatives are conventionally invited to official govt programmes held within their jurisdiction.Samantaray told TOI, “Elected representatives are not mere invitees but constitutional stakeholders in govt programmes held in their constituencies. Denying an MP an official invitation undermines parliamentary privilege and the spirit of cooperative governance. Such offence must be treated with proper action.”Despite repeated attempts, the collector didn’t respond to calls.
