Bhubaneswar, Nov. 1 :    Bhubaneswar, Nov. 1:  The demand for a separate Koshala state in Orissa got a shot in the arm after the municipality of Sambalpur town passed a resolution last evening. The resolution, moved by BJP councillor Golak Bihari Mishra, was accepted unanimously by the Congress-dominated 29-member council. Sambalpur municipality chairman Anand Jena and 28 other councillors put their seal of approval on the resolution which highlighted the 'neglect and stepmotherly attitude' of the rulers of Orissa since Independence. Copies of the resolution have been sent to the Centre, the state government, the district collector and the revenue divisional commissioner. Talking to The Telegraph from his Sambalpur residence over the phone, Jena said a separate Koshala state has become necessary as the Western Orissa Development Council has failed to safeguard the interests of the people of the region. 'The BJD-BJP alliance government is no better. They have failed the people,' Jena, a Congress member, added. The plan for a separate Koshala state envisaged carving out of 15 districts of southern and western Orissa. These include Koraput, Kalahandi, Sambalpur, Bolangir, Sundargarh and Keonjhar. The name of the 'state' has been derived from the erstwhile princely state of Koshala of the 12th century, which included the present-day Chhattisgarh and some western Orissa districts. The resolution criticised the state government for 'neglecting development projects in Sambalpur'. Jena said the government was so 'callous that it brought down the number of beneficiaries under the Annapurna Yojana from 264 to 100'. It had also transferred the lone doctor in the maternity hospital, he added. The demand for a separate Koshala state had been raised by BJP legislator from Bolangir Balgopal Mishra recently. Another Congress legislator from the region had also supported the demand at a recent function. The Sambalpur Lawyers Association recently passed a resolution demanding the formation of a separate State. The BJD and the BJP have distanced themselves from the move. State BJP president Manmohan Samal and BJD secretary-general Prasanna Acharya refused comment on the resolution. However, the state Congress bigwigs are believed to be opposed to the creation of a separate Koshala State. The Sambalpur Municipality chairman said it was up to the state to take action on the resolution. 'We have made our points clear. If the government sits silent, then we would think about our next course of action,' he said. Staines case: A sessions court here admitted a petition from Chenchu Hansda who was sentenced to 14 years' detention by a juvenile court in the Graham Staines murder case. The petition sought a stay order on the directions issued by the juvenile court.