Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Wednesday slammed the state government for prioritising political optics over public welfare by approving Rs 30,000 crore to repaint all government buildings saffron.
Addressing a press conference at Congress Bhawan here, senior spokespersons Manoranjan Dash, Rajani Kumar Mohanty, Krushna Chandra Pati, and party leader Chinmay Sundar Das criticised the move, saying it comes at a time when the state is grappling with mounting debt, worsening law and order, and rising incidents of violence against women, including burn cases, gang rapes, and suicides due to harassment Mohanty revealed that a July 20, 2025, government letter showed the decision, to change the colour of all state-owned buildings, was made in a cabinet meeting. He noted that Odisha’s total debt for the 2025–26 fiscal stands at Rs 1,34,914 crore, translating to a per capita debt burden of Rs 20,177, about 12.7 per cent of the state’s GSDP. “At such a time, spending Rs 30,000 crore just to paint walls is reckless,” he said.
The Congress alleged that the ruling party, which had previously criticised the government over similar repainting exercises, reversed its stance after coming to power. They also expressed suspicion that Rs 6,000–7,000 crore from the project could be diverted for upcoming panchayat election expenses through ‘PC’ (percentage commission) collections. Pati further noted that the government had already spent Rs 100 crore to change bus colours to saffron and altered the packaging of Omfed milk products. “Now, this Rs 30,000 crore paint project shocks the entire state,” he said, adding that the Congress would strongly oppose it. The party vowed to intensify its protest against what it called a politically motivated expenditure.