Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Dec 7: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Sunday extended his support to the decision to replace the Planning Commission with a suitable arrangement to address the issues faced by the states.
‘‘We need to create a mechanism for sharing the tax revenues to enable the states prepare their plans based on local felt needs’’, Patnaik said while addressing the consultation meeting of the chief ministers convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at New Delhi.
Expressing concern over the ‘‘neglect to Orissa by the Centre’’ Patnaik suggested the Centre and its Planning Body ensure equitable distribution of resources free from any political motives.
“For over a decade, both of us as Chief Ministers have experienced the planning process from the other side. So, the Prime Minister is well aware of the problems that the Opposition-ruled states face on account of Centre’s bias,” Patnaik said, “We all have seen the planning process during the last six decades as also the distribution of resources have been guided not entirely on merit and necessity. This has caused serious imbalance in development and unsatisfactory performance in human development indicators across states.”
Highlighting Orissa’s plea, Patnaik said, “Orissa contributes over Rs 14,000 crore revenue to railway which is about one-tenth of the total revenue of Railways. In return, the Railways have not been able to plough back even 20 per cent of the revenue earned in the State.”
“As a result, the railway density in Orissa is significantly lower than the National Average,” he added.
Patnaik sought to know how financial inclusion of people can be ensured when three-fourth of gram panchayats of the state do not have even a brick and mortar bank branch.
“Repeated natural disasters have created havoc in my state perpetuating poverty and under-development. It is in this context Orissa has been demanding the status of a special category and adequate flow of resources to enable the state to catch up with the rest of the developed states in the country,” Patnaik stressed.
Moreover, he said the planning process adopted during the last six decades have not been guided on merit and necessity basis and asked to consider these factors while doing resource allocation planning.
