Naveen govt has taken Odisha for a ride, says Niranjan

Bhubaneswar, Sep 27:

A day after the report of Raghuram Rajan panel tagged Odisha as the least developed state in the country, senior Congress leader and former PCC president Niranjan Patnaik today lashed out at the BJD-led government in the state for taking the people of Odisha for a ride in the name of inclusive growth and development.

“The report of Rajan committee has made it clear that the state is number one among poor states. The report has exposed the Naveen Patnaik government, which has been hoodwinking the people of state citing that the state is on the development path. The state government should beg apology for confusing people,” said Patnaik in a press release.

He also said the Gramin Vikash report of 2012-13 had also found poverty increasing in the state.

Stating that there is no reason why Odisha should remain poor  when it has plenty of natural resources, he blamed the inefficiency and lack of vision of the state government for failing to carry forward the development programmes.

“Naveen Patnaik could have made Odisha the number one state in the country by seizing the opportunities unleashed by the economic boom during the last 14 years. But, the state is now bearing a bad name due to the inefficiency and lack of vision of state government,” accused the senior Congress leader.

The Raghuram Rajan has ranked Odisha as India’s most backward state and Modi’s Gujarat as one of the “less developed” states. Goa tops the list of India’s most developed states.

The committee has proposed an index of backwardness consisting of 10 equally weighted indicators for monthly per capita consumption expenditure, education, health, household amenities, poverty rate, female literacy, percentage of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe population, urbanisation rate, financial inclusion and physical connectivity.