<p>Biswajit Mohanty, a board member of the India unit of Transparency International, said he sought details of the formal press conferences Patnaik had held in 11 years. <br /><br />The government, in its reply to Mohanty May 24, cited only one instance. It was held March 6 in 2000 at the state secretariat and was attended by about 120 mediapersons and no press release was circulated, it said.<br /><br />Patnaik has, however, conducted informal briefings to both print and electronic media on current developments, said the reply.<br /><br />"Accountability of the government at the highest level can only be upheld through regular media briefings," said Mohanty who wrote to the chief minister Friday.</p>
<p>Biswajit Mohanty, a board member of the India unit of Transparency International, said he sought details of the formal press conferences Patnaik had held in 11 years. <br /><br />The government, in its reply to Mohanty May 24, cited only one instance. It was held March 6 in 2000 at the state secretariat and was attended by about 120 mediapersons and no press release was circulated, it said.<br /><br />Patnaik has, however, conducted informal briefings to both print and electronic media on current developments, said the reply.<br /><br />"Accountability of the government at the highest level can only be upheld through regular media briefings," said Mohanty who wrote to the chief minister Friday.</p>