The Odisha government on Thursday demanded a special Central assistance of Rs 3,500 crore to mitigate the dry-spell situation which has resulted in crop loss in about 5.23 lakh hectares of cultivable land.
The State government’s demand was made by Naveen Patnaik when he met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi Thursday, a release issued by the Chief Minister’s office said.
During the meeting, Mr. Patnaik said in 2015, Kharif crops have been severely impacted in large parts of Odisha due to inadequate rainfall in July/August and about 5.32 lakh hectares of cropped area has suffered damage to the extent of 33 per cent or more.
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Stating that the State has already announced a drought assistance package for farmers estimated at over Rs 1,000 crore towards drought mitigation and protection of interest of farmers, Mr. Patnaik said the Centre needs to provide a Special Central Assistance of at least Rs 3,500 crore to the State at the earliest, the release said.
In addition, Mr. Patnaik requested to provide interest incentives for converted medium term loans to enable the affected farmers to avail prompt repayment incentive at par with short term crop loans.
Noting that the State has prepared a long term drought mitigation plan, the Chief Minister said the ongoing major and medium irrigation projects sanctioned in the State were suffering on account of inadequate release of funds by the Centre and inadequate provision made for the 2015-16 fiscal.
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Mr. Patnaik stated that the requirement of the State to meet the balance cost of ongoing irrigation projects worked out to about Rs. 5,200 crore and there was a huge backlog of previous years, the release said.
The Chief Minister requested the Union Minister to review the prevailing situation and enhance the outlay under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) for Odisha for ensuring the ongoing major and medium irrigation and flood control projects were completed without further delay. Mr, Patnaik said Odisha deserves a greater share of Central Assistance as compared to other eastern states in terms of its backwardness and low levels of almost all socio-economic indicators.
“Odisha has continuously suffered since Independence on account of inadequate flow of central resources. The state’s problems are compounded by recurring floods, cyclones and drought, which play havoc with the State’s economy,” Mr. Patnaik said.
He expressed concerns that even till date about 2/3rd of the State was not covered by any bank and asserted that for ensuring financial inclusion, it was necessary to have at least one branch of a bank in every Gram Panchayat.
The CM requested the Union Finance Minister to issue directions to the banks to provide required logistics and manpower support for opening Brick and Mortar branches in all unbanked Gram Panchayats as per the schedule finalised by the State Level Bankers Committee, the release said.
He brought to the attention of the Union Finance Minister that discontinuance of Central Assistance for Key Area Development Programmes including Special Plan for KBK, Backward Region Grant Fund and Integrated Action Plan for Left Wing Extremism affected districts, were severely impacting the most vulnerable groups in the backward regions of Odisha. - PTI