Sambalpur: In a scathing attack on the BJD government in Odisha, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday accused it of having failed to put in place a robust infrastructure, particularly in the healthcare sector despite being in power for the last 25 years in the state.
Dharmendra, who has been fielded from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat for the upcoming elections, said even 76 years after independence, ambulances are unable to reach villages in the state despite the BJD government’s tall claims about transforming healthcare sector.
Claiming that children are suffering from acute malnutrition in different parts of the state, the Union Education and Skill Development Minister said there are no doctors in government hospitals. The BJP leader was speaking at several programmes during his to Sambalpur ahead of the upcoming polls.
Coming down heavily on the Naveen Patnaik government, the senior BJP leader sought to know whether this can be termed transformation brought by a 25-year-old government. The sight of patients being carried on cots often come to light in the state exposing the fragile infrastructure in the healthcare sector, he said.
Stating that around 19 per cent of children in the state are underweight at birth, Dharmendra said 31 per cent of children are of low height compared to age and 18 per cent of them are underweight compared to height.
It is highly disappointing that 64 per cent of children and 62 per cent of women are anaemic in the state as the BJD government has failed to do its duty, the BJP leader claimed.
While there is no government hospital in many parts of the state, most hospitals function without adequate number of doctors, nurses and health workers, he claimed.
Accusing the ruling BJD of spreading the wrong message that Odisha is number one, Dharmendra said a welfare government is functioning in the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The people of Odisha have once again decided to make Modi the Prime Minister for the third time and bring a double engine government in Odisha, the BJP leader claimed.
During his Sambalpur tour, Dharmendra attended a meeting of BJP workers and discussed the election strategy. He advised party workers to go door to door to inform common people about the Centre’s welfare schemes. He called upon the activists to work towards the goal of building a developed India and a prosperous Odisha.
