Bhubaneswar: The Opposition BJD Saturday said the Fiscal Health Index (FHI), published by the Niti Aayog, shows the state’s outstanding financial management during the Naveen Patnaik dispensation and has proved BJP’s allegations wrong.
BJD leader Santrupt Mishra, a close aide of the former CM, said at a press conference that during the previous government, Odisha consistently demonstrated fiscal discipline and prudent financial management, setting an example for the entire nation.
“The BJP’s repeated propaganda that nothing has been accomplished during Patnaik’s tenure has been decisively proven wrong by this report,” he claimed.
Mishra said Odisha achieved an overall score of 67.8 per cent on FHI for 2022-2023, far ahead of Chhattisgarh (55.2) and Goa (53.6), which ranked second and third, respectively.
“Odisha’s lead of 12 points over its nearest competitor underscores the state’s robust fiscal framework,” he said.
“The state has maintained its top position in the achiever category from 2014-15 to 2021-22. The debt index, in particular, highlights Odisha’s stellar performance, with a score of 99 for debt repayment and an impressive 64 for overall debt sustainability. Also, Odisha scored 54 in fiscal discipline, 52 in expenditure quality, and 69.9 in revenue collection,” he added.
Mishra said Odisha’s fiscal deficit, which stood at 6.9 per cent of the GSDP in 2000-01, was reduced to 2 per cent in 2022-23.
“Similarly, Odisha’s debt-to-GSDP ratio has remained within the FRBM Act guidelines, consistently ranging between 15 per cent and 24 per cent from 2018-19 to 2022-23,” he said.
“This is an extraordinary transformation from 2000 when the state was financially crippled, and government employees depended on overdrafts for salaries,” he said.
The BJD leader also criticised the state’s BJP government for renaming the business summit to ‘Utkarsh Odisha’ from ‘Make-in-Odisha Conclave’.
“Make-in-Odisha initiative of Patnaik had made the state a hub for global industrial investment. Odisha was ranked the third-best state for attracting capital investment in 2022, second-best in 2023, and the top state in 2024,” he claimed.
“Changing the name of a proven initiative does not erase its success or its origin,” he said.
He said these achievements were a reflection of Patnaik’s leadership and governance model.
“We call upon the BJP to acknowledge these accomplishments instead of dismissing them for political gain. The people of Odisha will not accept attempts to undermine the state’s progress,” he said.
PTI
