Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has long been harping on central neglect to Odisha. In his recent election rallies, he had also accused the NDA government at the Centre of conspiring to stall disbursal of financial assistance to the farmers of the state under the KALIA scheme.
Now, a new video featuring Naveen’s interaction with youths of Odisha on central neglect has gone viral.
When asked if it is true that the Centre has been neglecting Odisha, the Chief Minister tries to explain the veracity of the allegation by citing two examples. “The central government is meant to revise the coal royalty every three years. But it has not been done for the last five years because of which we have lost Rs 10,000 crore revenue,” he explains to the young people, who are left flummoxed by the huge number.
They are of the opinion that the amount could have been spent on improving infrastructure in all colleges and universities in the state. One among them said that 10 lakh students could have been given scholarships for higher education as well. “So, you can seen how much of youth and their future have been neglected,” Naveen said.
The video ends with the Chief Minister saying: Injustice to Odisha is injustice to her youths and their future.
A day after the announcement of poll dates, BJD in March had also launched ‘Haq Maguchi Odisha’ political campaign alleging Centre’s partiality and negligence towards the development of the State.
