Bhubaneswar, April 23: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today reiterated his demand for Odisha having the same fund-sharing pattern with the Centre as north eastern and Himalayan states.
"Odisha has a high percentage of population below poverty line and belonging to SC and SC and deserves the same sharing pattern at par with the North Eastern and Himalayan states," Naveen said at the third meeting of the governing council of NITI Aayog. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting in New Delhi today.
States that receive special treatment from the Centre are disbursed most of the central funds in the form of grants instead of loans that carry the burden of interest.
Justifying his demand, Naveen said: "This demand is in line with the Punchhi Commission recommendations for higher central transfers to backward states for improving their physical and social infrastructure."
Earlier, Naveen had raised the demand at the 11th meeting of the inter-state council's standing committee in Delhi on April 9.
The chief minister stated that the benefit of the effect of increased devolution of central taxes from 32 per cent to 42 per cent has been largely offset by several policy decisions of the Union government. It includes delinking of eight centrally-sponsored schemes from central support, discontinuance of the special plan for the backward KBK region, and assistance to the Maoist-affected districts and a steep increase in state's share in schemes of the Union government.
Stating that Odisha faces natural disasters every alternate year causing huge damage to the state's resources, Naveen said: "The geographical vulnerability of the state should be considered in the process of allocation of resources to Odisha so that disaster mitigation is adequately addressed."
Pointing out that low telecom connectivity, including lower bandwidth, low financial inclusion and a lower bank credit remain primary concerns of the state, Naveen urged the governing council to address these deficiencies adequately to realise the goal of Digital India.
He underscored the need to expedite implementation of BharatNet project in all gram panchayats as its pace of implementation in Odisha was slow. He also urged the governing council to advise the power ministry to enable Odisha to provide free electricity connection to eligible BPL households expeditiously and sought adequate funds for the expansion, repair and periodical renewal of national highways.
Naveen told the Centre to consider his government's proposal to increase the minimum support price of paddy and to earmark 60 per cent of the clean environment cess for coal-bearing states.
Naveen's statement echoes the state's earlier demand for a special-category status. Odisha remains keen on being accorded special treatment by the Centre as successive UPA and NDA governments have rejected its demand for special category status.
CMs skip meet
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal were among those who skipped Niti Aayog's governing council meet here today, a PTI report said.
However, a source told the PTI that Kejriwal sent deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia to represent Delhi. The source further said a large number of chief ministers are attending the meeting because Prime Minister Narendra Modi had refused to allow their official representatives to participate in the deliberations.
The source said Modi had made it clear that only the chief minister or the deputy chief minister will represent their states and no other official will be allowed to participate in the meeting.
Among the opposition ruled states, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami attended the meeting.
Others who were present include Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti Sayeed and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Suresh Prabhu, Prakash Javadekar, Rao Inderjit Singh and Smriti Irani also attended the meet.
