Bhubaneswar: Former Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, voiced his disappointment on Tuesday over the continued neglect of Odisha in the Union Budget, despite the state’s considerable contributions to the nation.
Reacting to the Union Budget 2024 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament today, Patnaik remarked “BJP had put special category status in their manifesto as a promise to the people of Odisha, however, this promise has not been considered for Odisha, whereas special packages, allocating crores of funds have been announced for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in Budget 2024. Along with this, the demand of Odisha for revision of coal royalty, which has been pending for years with the central government has been rejected, because of which the state will lose thousands of crores of revenue every year..”
BJP had put special category status in their manifesto as a promise to the people of #Odisha, however, this promise has not been considered for Odisha, whereas special packages, allocating crores of funds have been announced for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in #Budget2024. Along with… pic.twitter.com/uKCjn4cjVJ
— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) July 23, 2024
The BJD leader pointed out that the BJP’s manifesto promised special category status for Odisha, a commitment unfulfilled, while substantial funds have been allocated to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.
“Lots of big promises in different sectors were made to the people of Odisha during the election campaign, especially in agriculture, MSME and industry. There is no mention of any promise being fulfilled in this Budget. This is a complete neglect of Odisha and her people,” Patnaik highlighted.
“We all know that Odisha faces a number of natural disasters every year, including floods. We had requested a special package for disaster management. While similar requests of other states have been considered and they have been granted Special packages for flood protection, the genuine demand of Odisha for disaster management has not been considered. So on both counts, whether it is a special package or a revision of coal royalty, Odisha continues to be neglected by the NDA,” Naveen stated.
Despite other states’ similar appeals being granted for flood management, Odisha’s legitimate request for disaster management remains ignored, lamented the BJD chief.
“On both accounts, whether it’s the special package or coal royalty revision, Odisha’s needs have been neglected,” Patnaik concluded.
Patnaik also mentioned that the pressing issues for the general populace today are inflation and unemployment, yet this budget lacks significant measures to tackle these critical problems. “Today, the most serious issues being faced by the common public are inflation/price rise, and unemployment. This budget does not have any considerable intervention to address these two major issues. We have been fighting for Justice in the Polavaram issue. Allocating more and more funds for Polavaram without sorting out the genuine grievances of Odisha shows impartiality against Odisha,” Patnaik said.
“The NDA government has been at the Centre for more than 10 years now and every budget talks of focus on Eastern India, including Odisha. There has been nothing substantial for Odisha over the years, and this budget has also been a disappointment for us, however, we shall wait for the details,” the former chief minister said.
“I’m happy to see there is a focus on Tourism for Odisha. I hope it is substantial, and we shall wait for the details to come out. I would say that, along with the people of Odisha, I feel disappointed at the continued neglect of Odisha while the state contributes so much to the country. Leaders of the BJP had given many tall promises during the poll. But there is nothing for Odisha and for its people,” Naveen concluded.
