Bhubaneswar: BJD president and leader of opposition Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday said he was disappointed with the continued neglect of Odisha in the Union Budget except for some focus on tourism.
Stating that BJP had put special category status in its manifesto as a promise to the people of Odisha in the past, Naveen said whereas special financial packages worth thousands of crores have been announced for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, there is nothing special for the state.“Along with this, the demand of Odisha for revision of coal royalty, which has been pending for years with the central govt, has been rejected because of which the state will lose thousands of crores of revenue every year,” he said.
Naveen said several big promises across sectors were made to the people of Odisha in the run-up to the elections, but there was no mention of any promise being fulfilled in the Budget. “This is a complete neglect of Odisha and her people,” he said. Pointing out that Odisha faces natural disasters every year, Naveen said, “We had requested a special package for disaster management. While similar requests of other states have been considered and they have been granted special packages for flood protection, the demand of Odisha for disaster management has not been considered.” TNN

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