Bhubaneswar, July 23 (FN Representative) Former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday expressed his disappointment at the continued neglect of Odisha in the budget despite the state’s significant contributions to the country. In his reaction to the Union budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament, Patnaik said the NDA government has been in power for more than 10 years, and every budget mentions a 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,” Patnaik said, adding, “However, we shall wait for the details.” The BJD supremo noted that the BJP had included special category status for Odisha 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 addition, he said the demand for the revision of coal royalty, which has been pending for years with the central government, has been rejected. This rejection will cause the state to lose thousands of crores in revenue every year, the former Chief Minister said.
He further stated that many big promises in different sectors were made to the people of Odisha during the election campaign by the BJP, especially in agriculture, MSMEs, and industry. “However, there is no mention of any promise being fulfilled in this budget. This is a complete neglect of Odisha and her people,” Patnaik remarked. He added, “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 from 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, the BJD president said. “So on both counts, whether it is a special package or revision of coal royalty, Odisha continues to be neglected by the NDA,” he said Patnaik further stated that today, the most serious issues being faced by the common public are inflation/price rise and unemployment, but this budget does not have any considerable intervention to address these two major issues. He said, “We have been fighting for justice in the Polavaram issue. Allocating more and more funds for Polavaram without addressing the genuine grievances of Odisha shows partiality against Odisha.” The BJD President, however, was happy to see a focus on tourism for Odisha. “I hope it is substantial, and we shall wait for the details to come out,” he remarked.