Bhubaneswar, Jan 24: Aparajita Sarangi, the newly-inducted bureaucrat-turned-politician of the BJP, came down heavily against the state government Thursday for its alleged failure in creating more job opportunities and poor performance of the state economy.
She questioned the government about the ‘Skilled in Odisha’ issue under which 6.95 lakh youths were trained but a mere 11 per cent of students got jobs and investment per person under the scheme in 2017-18 stood at a meager sum of Rs 603. Sarangi also inquired about the job promises made by the ruling party during ‘Make in Odisha’ conclaves and the investment promises made by companies such as Vedanta, Tata Steel and Jindal.
Sarangi blazed her guns at the government for its poor performance under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for receiving lesser central assistance based on the performance-based fund released under MGNREGS. She said that while states like West Bengal received Rs 6,000 crore, Chhattisgarh received Rs 3,000 crore, Odisha could get only around Rs 2,100 crore which indicated their poor performance.
The bureaucrat-turned-politician felt that the lack of value addition of minerals by the state had let state GDP take a hit and has decreased from 18 per cent to 16 per cent. She also added that value addition of minerals and metallurgy could boost economy and also create jobs in the state.
Sarangi demanded answers from the BJD as to why the state is still counted among the 10 most impoverished states even after 19 years of BJD rule.
