Odisha CM Seeks Restoration Of Central Aid For Backward Districts

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday urged the Niti Aayog for restoration of Central assistance for special plan for KBK, IAP and BRGF districts in Odisha.

During a meeting with Niti Aayog vice-chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar at the State Secretariat here, Patnaik said that considering the high percentage of population belong to Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes and frequent natural calamities, Odisha deserves to be accorded Special Category State status to fast track the ongoing development and may be treated at par with the north-eastern and Himalayan states for the sharing pattern of Centrally sponsored schemes.

Among others, the Chief Minister demanded increase of Central share in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) from 75 percent to 90 percent with effect from July 1, 2017, advance information of the annual allocation for the Centrally sponsored schemes, relaxation in the population range of norm for 38 LWE (left wing extremism) blocks under PMGSY scheme to 100 and above, special attention for opening bank branches in 4376 unbanked Gram Panchayats, mobile connectivity to about 11,200 villages, broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats especially the LWE areas at the earliest and adequate funds for development and maintenance of National Highways.

He further said Odisha expects the Railways to expedite execution of the works since the state has provided 50 percent funds and land free of coast for construction of the railway lines.

The Chief Minister also requested Kumar for revision of royalty on coal which is long overdue and extension of Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor to Visakhapatnam to connect it to deep water ports to facilitate strategic link between various industrial corridors of the country.

Besides, he also sought certain modifications in the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, modeled on the lines of Odisha’s flagship state scheme MAMTA, for wider coverage of the beneficiaries.