Koraput: Kotia was, is and will be an integral part of Odisha, said Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, reiterating the state government's claim over the disputed panchayat.
Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan has urged for combined efforts from both the state and the Centre for overall development of the panchayat, to which both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have staked their claims.
Three days after the state government had finalised a Rs 150-crore package for Kotia's development, Pradhan visited the panchayat on Monday to take stock of the situation.
"Joint efforts both by the state and the Centre should be done for Kotia's development," said Pradhan while addressing a gathering at the panchayat headquarters.
Acknowledging that the state government had fulfilled some of the demands of local people, the minister said he would personally take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that Kotia's development went on unhindered.
"Koraput - one of the 115 districts across the country - that is included under the Transformation of Aspirational District Scheme of the Centre. The Prime Minister directly monitors the development activities of these districts. I will apprise him of the situation at Kotia, and all efforts will be done to ensure that it is a developed region shortly," he said.
He referred to the memorandum of the villagers, who had demanded a post office, banks and BSNL mobile towers, apart from strengthening of health, education, economical activities and road network at Kotia.
He assured them that efforts would be taken up to fulfil their demands. Pradhan reached Sunabeda in a chopper and travelled around 50km by road to reach Kotia.
Prior to addressing the gathering, he visited Jagannath temple, a residential school, panchayat office and moved across Kotia village and interacted with the villagers.
BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra criticised Pradhan. He said the minister's visit was a "political stunt". He asked: "Why did the minister visit Kotia so late? He visited Kotia only after the TDP, which rules in Andhra Pradesh, fell out of the NDA. The minister's visit to Kotia is only to gain political mileage," said Mishra. "The state government is well aware about the problems at Kotia, and all efforts are taken up for its development," he said.
Both the Odisha and Andhra Pradesh government have been entangled in a legal battle over the ownership of 21 out of the 28 villages of Kotia panchayat since 1968, and the Supreme Court had in 2006 ordered to maintain status quo.In the past three months, Andhra government officials have toured several times to Kotia and are implementing their welfare programmes.
