Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will address a conference of the special development council of nine tribal-dominated districts through video conferencing at the State Secretariat here on Tuesday.
He will also inaugurate and dedicate new projects that have been completed by the council in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts.
But the BJP is critical and has urged Governor Dr Ganeshi Lal to stop the conference forthwith. Stating that tribals constitute 23 per cent of Odisha’s population, BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya said that as per Article 244 of the Indian Constitution, it is the lookout of the Governor to decide the nature of implementation of welfare programmes for socio-economic and inclusive development of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. He said the Chief Minister has been misusing the power of the Governor on this matter.
Alleging that the state government had not convened a meeting of the Tribal Advisory Council for several years, he said it decided to convene one now keeping the ensuing Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in mind.
