Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday launched a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his government believed in work and not propaganda
Narendra Modi
Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday launched a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his government believed in work and not propaganda.
Narendra Modi
"My government has always been accountable to the people of Odisha. We believe in work, not publicity," he told the media here.
Patnaik said Odisha is the only state in the country to adopt Biju Janata Dal's election manifesto as the agenda for governance from the day his government assumed office.
Addressing a public gathering at Balasore on June 2, Modi described the BJD government as "soi hui sarkar" (sleeping government).
The Chief Minister attacked the central government for alleged change in the fund- sharing pattern and increase in various cess and surcharges, which further deprive the state of its due share in central taxes.
"Most central schemes with 90:10 sharing pattern have now been changed to 60:40 or 50:50 sharing pattern. This will benefit the developed states but deprive the not-so- developed eastern states, including Odisha," he added.
Patnaik also said his government had created a national record in providing shelter to more than a million households and exuded confidence that the 2.3 million target will be achieved.
"We have substantially increased our investment in irrigation and are moving towards the target of one million hectares of capacity addition. We have also brought down the effective rate of interest to 1 per cent for crop loans to benefit small and medium farmers," he added.
He said electrification of 11.5 lakh households in Odisha, including three lakh below poverty line families, has been achieved while the construction of 500 new electricity sub-stations is in full swing.
"We set up 100 Odisha Adarsh Vidyalayas and more than 30,000 children from rural areas from some most backward blocks enrolled in this quality education initiative," he said.
Patnaik said that despite stoppage of funds by the Union government, the state government had gone ahead with the construction of six new medical colleges.
"I am hopeful two of them will be functional by the next year and the remaining by 2018."
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