Buguda: Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Monday came down heavily on various scams linked to the state government.
Participating at a rally ‘Jabab Maguchi Odisha’ organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party at People’s High School ground here, the minister criticized the state government for the crumbling healthcare facilities in Ganjam district.
He said four ministers including the Chief Minister represented the district but there are no doctors in the hospitals. Condemning the incident of a girl who became pregnant in an Ashram school in Daringabadi in Kandhamal district, he said the state government should resign owning moral responsibility.
He said industrialisation has failed to take off in the district due to the inefficiency of the government which has been in power for the last 19 years. Consequently, people in the district are deserting their parents and migrating to other states for employment as the state government has failed to generate work in the district.
Earlier, the minister offered prayers at Biranchi Narayan and Baldev temples and garlanded the statue of Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja in the town.
Later, Pradhan attended a public meeting near the New Era Public School. He said the state government has failed to provide water and power to the farmlands and rural areas.
The minister asked the people to seek answers from the state government as to why the farmers are forced to go for distress sale of paddy and why the Mandis in blocks are not opening.
The state government has kept its eyes and ears open for the general elections and has announced sops to win over the people through PEETHA and Ama Gaon and Ama Bikash programmes which have resulted in an increase in debt burden on the people.
Furthermore, cuts are being demanded in every block for old-age pensions and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana which the local MLAs and senior bureaucrats know, but the state government instead of taking any steps is holding the junior officials responsible for the incidents.
The state government which has vowed to empower women has failed to act in Kunduli and Pipli rape incidents and has been trying to shield the culprits.
He derided the recent salary hike of Anganwadi workers claiming that while the Modi government at the Centre has given a hike of Rs 1500 for the workers since October but the state government did not deliver the benefits due to them.
The people in the state have been deprived of Centrally sponsored Ayushman Bharat Yojana due to the state’s faulty policies, he said.
District president Surya Narayan Dash presided over the meeting attended by BJP general secretary Bhrugu Buxipatra, state executive member Gokulananda Mallick, Gangadhar Nayak, district secretary Pratap Chandra Nayak, women leaders Pinky Pradhan, Jayanti Padhiari, Anita Subhadarshini and all office-bearers of the party in Polsara assembly segment.
PNN