Bhubaneswar: Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly, Naveen Patnaik, Friday mocked the ruling BJP’s “double engine” government, asserting that it turned out to be “double misery” for the state.
The BJD president also claimed that the Central government did not increase the grant-in-aid funds for Odisha.
Patnaik, a five-time former Chief Minister, was participating in the general discussion on the Odisha Budget, tabled by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi in the Assembly Monday.
“The BJP came to power in the state by promising people that double-engine government would bring in double benefit. But it turned out to be a double misery. The fund from the Central government in the form of grant-in-aid did not increase from previous years,” Patnaik said.
Under the ‘double-engine government, Odisha’s open market loan burden has risen beyond Rs 46,000 crore, he claimed.
The per capita loan burden is growing every year and this will be a drain on the state’s finances and leave little money for development and welfare schemes, the BJD president said.
He asserted that the double-engine BJP government was supposed to take Odisha forward but the state seems to be going in reverse direction now.
“Odisha which was known for transformation earlier is now known only for changing names of schemes and colours,” he said and claimed that during his (BJD) regime, Odisha always remained a high-growth state.
Wondering how renaming ‘Skilled in Odisha’ programme to ‘Skilled for the World’ would help the youth of the state, Patnaik claimed it is an admission that the government cannot create enough jobs.
The BJD government helped millions of people come out of poverty, which is a fact noted by several central institutions, Patnaik claimed adding that, the double-engine government has brought down the growth rate from 10 per cent to 8 per cent this year.
“In real terms, the budget has shrunk compared to last year. When we take into account the inflation, the budget size increase from Rs 2.77 lakh crore to Rs 2.90 lakh crore represents a smaller real number compared to the last budget. This indicates that the government has no idea about how to expand the revenue base of the state,” Patnaik said.
The BJD leader said the BJP government should thank the previous Biju Janata Dal government for the robust fiscal health it got as a legacy.
“It (BJP govt) is able to at least earmark funds for the development projects without depending on handouts from central government which is evident from the fact that more than half of the budget is supported by Odisha’s own tax revenue,” he said.
Patnaik said this year’s budget has mentioned about Comprehensive City Road Decongestion Plan and plan to decongest Bhubaneswar traffic, but the double-engine government has reduced the allocation for the Bhubaneswar Metro Rail Project, he said.
The Leader of Opposition said that the Mission Shakti women are protesting for their not getting salary but the BJP government has promised 25 lakh ‘Lakhpati Didis’ by the year 2027.
Mission Shakti is a platform aimed at the social, economic, and political empowerment of women through their involvement in self-help groups (SHGs). It was launched on March 8, 2001, by then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
“I had demanded submission of the list of Lakhpati Didis during my last speech on the budget. Instead of sharing the list in the House, the allocation for Mission Shakti has been reduced,” he said.
Mocking at the Majhi Budget, Patnaik said that this budget brings dozens of slogans and catchphrases to avoid public focus on real issues confronting the people of Odisha.
PTI
