Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for announcing support for Odisha’s tourism sector in the Union Budget 2024-25.
“On behalf of the people of Odisha, I would like to thank the Prime Minister Mr. @narendramodi and the Finance Minister Mrs. @nsitharaman for giving special importance for the development of Odisha’s tourism sector in the current budget and making arrangements to provide the necessary financial support,” Shri Majhi said on X.
The tourism sector including wildlife, marine and temple development will contribute significantly to Odisha’s economic development, making Odisha a center of tourist attraction, he said.
Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo also lauded Union Budget. He said that few days earlier, we have presented Odisha demand with Union Government and those have been reflected in Union Budget.
On the other hand, former Chief Minister and BJD Supremo Naveen Patnaik expressed displeasure for non allocation of special category status to Odisha.
Though the BJP had put special category status in their manifesto as a promise to the people of Odisha, the promise has not been considered, whereas special packages, allocating crores of funds have been announced for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, he said.
Naveen said that a lot of big promises in different sectors were made to the people of Odisha during the election campaign, especially on agriculture, MSME and industry, however, there is no mention of any promise being fulfilled in this budget.
“This is a complete neglect of Odisha and her people. Odisha faces a number of natural disasters every year, including floods. We had requested a special package for disaster management,” he said.
While similar requests of other states have been considered and they have been granted Special packages for flood protection, the genuine demand of Odisha for disaster management has not been considered. So on both counts whether it is a special package or revision of coal royalty, Odisha continues to be neglected by the NDA, alleged the BJD chief.
Opposing the allocation for the Polavaram irrigation project, Shri Patnaik said it showed impartiality against the state despite its genuine grievances on the project.