Bhubaneswar, Feb. 27: The Naveen Patnaik government today tried to thwart the BJP-led NDA government's bid to appropriate the legacy of Buxi Jagabandhu and other icons of the state.
Naveen appears to make political capital out of the state's pantheon of local heroes and is determined to prevent their "poaching".
Finance minister Pradip Amat announced the launch of Buxi Jagabandhu Assured Water Supply to Habitations (BASUDHA) scheme as a tribute to Jagabandhu, the leader of the Paika rebellion, an armed uprising against the British, which is being commemorated in its bicentennial year.
The scheme will have two components - Buxi Jagabandhu Saharanchala Paneeya Jala Joganana Karyakaram and Buxi Jagabandhu Grameeya Paneeya Jala Jogana Karyakarma - to provide drinking water facilities to people in the state.
While Rs 315 crore has been earmarked for urban water supply under the scheme, Rs 750 crore has been set aside for rural areas.
The Centre had earlier announced it would observe the bicentenary year of Paika Bidroha as part of its strategy to promote the state's heroes.
The government today also announced the launch of a programme in the name of freedom fighters Malati Devi and Gangadhar Meher. While Malatidevi Prak Vidayalaya Paridhan Yojana would aim to provide uniforms to children in pre-schools, the Ganagadhar Meher Siskhya Manakbrudhi Yojana would provide free school bags and educational kits. Meher has been one of the most iconic heroes of western Odisha.
Earlier, the government had launched schemes to commemorate Biju Patnaik, Madhusudan Das and Gopabandhu Das, all icons of Odisha.
Presenting a budget of Rs1.06 lakh crore, a record for the state, the finance minister also announced introduction of Abhada or Augmentation of Basic Amenities and Development of Heritage and Architecture for the overall development of Puri, the spiritual capital of the state.
The scheme will be implemented at a cost of Rs 100 crore.
The Centre had earlier announced Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (Hriday) allocating Rs 22 crore for the holistic development of the city. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior Union ministers have been visiting the city on and off.
The government also appears determined to ensure industrial growth of the state.
"The Make in Odisha conclave met with enthusiastic response. We will provide Rs 20 crore under Industrial Infrastructure Development Fund to ensure that quality external infrastructure is provided to the industrial cluster," Amat said.
However, Amat indicated that the government would support the Centre's digital payment system. "All government offices and agencies will be enabled to receive digital payments of all kinds including net banking, debit and credit cards and Aadhaar-based payments," he said.
Talking to reporters after presenting the budget, Amat said the budget outlay would be around 13.7 per cent more than the previous year. He said the focus of the budget was mainly on growth, development, investment and welfare of the people. "The highest allocation of Rs 18,408 crore has been made for education and skill development," he said.
The minister said the annual budget had been prepared this time as a merger of plan and non-plan components for the first time. The budget was broadly divided into administrative expenditure, programme expenditure, disaster response funds and transfers from the state.
However, the fiscal deficit this time would be 3.5 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product. But it has been kept within the prescribed limit of 3.5 percent, he said. Asked how he would plug the deficit, the finance minister said the state government would borrow. The net borrowing would be Rs 14, 388 crore out of which the state government would raise Rs 10,273 crore through open market borrowing. The open market borrowing was Rs 6,420 crore in 2016-17, he said.
