Pravash Pradhan
Post News Network
New Delhi, August 3: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Monday urged Union finance minister Arun Jaitley to give special financial assistance to Orissa.
The state faces a net additional liability of Rs 2,149 crore in 2015-16 as the gain because of the increase in devolution from 32 per cent to 42 per cent only partly offsets the loss suffered on account of reduction of central assistance and grants, the Chief Minister told the Union finance minister. Orissa deserves a greater share in central assistance as compared to other eastern states, he stressed.
The Union Budget has a provision of Rs 20,000 crore for providing special assistance to state governments through NITI Aayog, Patnaik pointed out. The state has a meagre resource base, he said. He urged Jaitley to recognise the huge resources required to meet critical development needs and give at least Rs 3,500 crore to Orissa from the provision made for special dispensation through NITI Aayog.
Patnaik brought to the notice of the Union finance minister that discontinuance of central assistance for key area development programmes, including the special plan for KBK, Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) and Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for Left-wing extremism affected districts will severely affect vulnerable groups in these regions.
These area development programmes involve an annual resource outlay of `1,227 crore in Orissa, he said and impressed upon the Union minister to either restore the provisions for these critical schemes or provide a special package to the state for continuance of these vital programmes.
The Chief Minister underlined that lack of adequate central assistance for flagship programmes, including the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and school education programmes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) will adversely impact the pace of these development programmes. He urged the Union finance minister to enhance outlay and allocation for these flagship programmes.
The remaining cost of ongoing major and medium irrigation projects in the state under AIBP works out to about Rs 5,200 crore Patnaik said, adding that there a huge backlog on account of inadequate release of funds under AIBP to the state in the previous years. He emphasised that the outlay for AIBP and its allocation to Orissa needs to be substantially
enhanced.
He also demanded that the allocation under PMGSY should be enhanced from the present Rs 912 crore to Rs 1,800 crore to enable the state to take up and complete critical projects and improve rural connectivity.
