Congress Dubs ‘Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha’ Scheme A Pre-Poll Gimmick Of BJD To Hoodwink People

Bhubaneswar: A day after Odisha cabinet approved “Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha” scheme, Congress on Tuesday mounted a scathing attack on the BJD government accusing it of introducing the programme to hoodwink the people ahead of the elections due next year.

Addressing a press meet in Bhubaneswar, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak said the state government’s “Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha” is another scheme to fool the people to grab votes.

Coming down heavily on Naveen Patnaik government over the issue, the PCC chief sought to know the status of several schemes launched by the BJD dispensation in the past.

While announcing the scheme with a sanctioned budget of Rs 4,000 crore to build rural infrastructure, the BJD government must tell people as to how long the scheme is going to last as many such proposals made in the past were short lived and are now forgotten, he said.

“Such schemes are announced by the BJD government before elections to fool people. However, the government forgets about these schemes after elections,” Pattanayak claimed.

The Congress leader further stated that by introducing the scheme to augment rural infrastructure the BJD government admits that no step had been taken by it earlier for the development of villages in the state.

While people are deprived of drinking water facilities, thousands of schools are functioning from dilapidated structures, he said, adding that vegetable prices have skyrocketed as the government failed to build cold storages.

However, people are not aware of the game plan of BJD and they will teach it a lesson in the next elections, the PCC chief added.

It may be noted here that the state Cabinet on Monday approved the proposal to modify “Ama Gaon Ama Bikash” into “Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha” with sanctioned budget of Rs 4,000 crore.

The new scheme would be effective from financial year 2023-24 for taking up measures to augment rural infrastructure leading to accelerated growth as well as to promote, preserve and protect Jagannath culture and tradition of the state.

The scheme aims at providing missing links to the existing small and essential projects and development of infrastructure. It plans to achieve empowerment of women and youth, bridge critical gap in education and provide digital and sports facilities.

There is budget provision of Rs 4000 crore under the scheme from the State Budget. The scheme will cover all Gram Panchayats in each block with entitlement of Rs 50 lakh. The project cost will be between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.