By Our Correspondent
BARIPADA/BHUBANESWAR: Amid severe criticism, Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University has suspended electrician Jayant Tripathy for power outage during President Droupadi Murmu’s convocation address. There was 9-min blackout from 11.56 am to 12.05 pm, a few minutes after the President started speaking.
The air conditioning system too worked normally. Murmu was heard saying that power is “playing hide and seek” and the large audience sat patiently to hear her though nothing was visible.
While the government has ordered a probe, the university also started a parallel inquiry. A 3-member team comprising PG council chairman PK Satapathy, registrar Sahadev Samadhia, development officer Basant Mohanta will investigate lapse and fix responsibility.
Tata Power, North Odisha Power Distribution Limited’s CEO Bhaskar Sarkar said that there was no distribution disruption in the hall and the glitch was perhaps due to some defects in the electrical wiring. University vice-chancellor Santosh Kumar Tripathy regretted the incident and apologised for the power glitch during President Murmu’s speech.
