Keeping in mind the upcoming panchayat polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and questioned its claims on development.
16-year rule
The BJP’s State executive, which met at Sundargarh, said: “Odisha’s place has dropped in various development standards during the 16-year rule of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. In an attempt to hide its incompetency and lethargy, the State government has been beating its own drum by making false claims.”
“Recently, Mr. Patnaik handed over lakhs of rural houses sitting in Bhubaneswar. In reality, of the 3.02 lakh houses built, only 58,000 were built under the State government’s Biju Pucca Ghara Yojana. Central funds were used in the case of the remaining 2.44 lakh houses,” the BJP added.
Raising the issue of distress in the farm sector, the party said: “The Naveen Patnaik government has failed to improve agriculture and allied sectors. While 70 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture, the sector’s contribution to the State’s economy is just 15 per cent.”
It further alleged that the BJD government had failed to establish minimum infrastructure for farmers. “There are only five cold storages in the State, as a result of which tonnes of farm produce cannot be kept for longer periods. Only 33 per cent of total cultivable land is irrigated against the national average of 48.9 per cent.”
Moreover, BJP pointed out, 17.27 per cent of BPL families are yet to get electricity connection, while 41 per cent households are yet to be electrified.
“The Central government is spending 60 per cent of the Budget finalised for establishment five medical colleges in the State and another three medical colleges are being set up by Central public sector units.”
The BJP expressed concern over the high rate of unemployment in the State.
Controversy
“As per the Economic Survey 2016, 2.28 lakh youth have registered for jobs. Of them, only 1,144 got employment.”
The State executive of the BJP was attended by Union Ministers Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan. However, the meet is mired in controversy due to absence of senior leaders like Bijoy Mohapatra, Dillip Ray and K. V. Singh Deo.
The party alleged that the govt. had failed to establish minimum infrastructure for the State farmers
