Amid row over credit, Naveen thanks PM, Scindia for flight service to Rourkela

Priya Ranjan Swain Published On : Jan 7, 2023 at 7:52 PM

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia for their support to improve connectivity to the hinterland of Odisha through the UDAN scheme.

Earlier in the day, the Scindia inaugurated the daily flight service between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela through videoconference.

Odisha family forcibly takes minor girl’s body from morgue to resurrect her

Flight service from Odisha’s Rairangpur to Chhattisgarh via Rourkela to begin soon

Patnaik, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other dignitaries flagged off the first flight on the route, an ATR-72 aircraft of Alliance Air, from Biju Patnaik International Airport here at 10.45 am.

“Glad to have flagged off the 1^st flight to Rourkela Airport. Thank Honourable PM Narendra Modiji for the support to improve connectivity to the hinterland of Odisha under UDAN. It will boost connectivity, commerce and tourism, fulfilling aspirations of people of the region,” said the Chief Minister in a Twitter post today.

Glad to have flagged off the 1st flight to #Rourkela Airport. Thank Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji for the support to improve connectivity to the hinterland of #Odisha under #UDAN. It will boost connectivity, commerce & tourism, fulfilling aspirations of people of the region. pic.twitter.com/URyo93siio

— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) January 7, 2023

The Chief Minister thanked Scindia for his efforts to coordinate between SAIL and DGCA for the flight service to Rourkela Airport under UDAN scheme.

“Thank Union Minister JM Scindia ji for all the efforts, especially to coordinate between SAIL and DGCA for flight service to Rourkela Airport under UDAN ahead of Men’s Hockey World Cup-2023. It will offer seamless connectivity to sports fans coming to celebrate hockey in Odisha,” Patnaik said in another Twitter post.

Thank Union Min Shri @JM_Scindia ji for all the efforts, especially to coordinate between SAIL and DGCA for the flight service to Rourkela Airport under #UDAN ahead of #HWC2023. It will offer seamless connectivity to sports fans coming to celebrate hockey in #Odisha. pic.twitter.com/9wdA2RMCrr

— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) January 7, 2023

Earlier, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan lashed out at the Odisha government for not giving due credit to the Prime Minister for recent developmental projects in Odisha, including the commencement of flight service between Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

Pradhan claimed that there was no poster or banner of the Prime Minister during the inauguration of flight service to the Steel City.