Bhubaneswar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) left no stone unturned to saffronise the temple city during its two-day national executive meeting, which concluded on April 16. Though the party leaders kept emphasising on their fondness for Orissa throughout the meet, they chose to maintain silence on the grant of special status to the state. Even as the demand for special state status grew louder, senior BJP leaders avoided giving direct answers to Orissa POST on the issue. However, they were unanimous in claiming that their party would come to power in the state.
Earlier Saturday, party president Amit Shah had tweeted that BJP supporters and workers in Orissa would soon see the outcome of their hard work in a victory here. However, when this newspaper asked Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar whether the Modi government has thought of any special status for the state, he had no concrete answers. “We love the people of Orissa. The people of Orissa are very nice. We love their culture. We will work towards the development of the state in terms of education and infrastructure. We’ll also try to empower the socially backward classes and will do justice to the people of Orissa,” said Javadekar.
Earlier Saturday, the state Congress demanded grant of special category state status or any special financial package to Orissa. A group of volunteers from Akhand Bharat Janjagaran Programme had also staged a sit-in at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to press the Centre for special tag to the state Saturday, as Modi conducted a road show in Bhubaneswar and the ruling BJP’s national executive began.
The demand for special tag intensified after the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) came to power under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik in 2000. Chief Minister Patnaik had written to the then Prime Minister, Finance Minister and the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission on several occasions, seeking the same. The State Assembly had in 2013 also passed a unanimous resolution, urging the Centre to accord special status to Orissa. The demand has been raised since 1991.
Special category states get central assistance in ratio of 90 per cent grant and 10 per cent loan. Other states receive central grants in ratio of 30 per cent grant and 70 per cent loan.
The tag is accorded on the basis of several factors, including presence of a strategic location on the border with other countries, hilly and tough terrains, poor economic and social infrastructure, tribal population and insufficient resources.
The Centre has been denying the tag to Orissa as it is not located strategically on the border with other countries. However, Orissa was ranked as the most backward state in the country in a 2013 Raghuram Rajan committee report. Moreover, the BJP had earlier announced in its 2004 poll manifesto that it would try to secure the status for Orissa.
Requesting anonymity, a state BJP leader insisted that his party’s commitment towards Orissa was not to be questioned. “It is quite obvious that we have our eyes on Orissa. We will try to solve its problems. There were other cities in the country also. But, why do you (the reporter) think we chose Bhubaneswar as the destination for the meet? It means we are interested in this state and will bring development here,” he said.
Post News Network
