Bhubaneswar: Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today said that Odisha needs a Government which can partner with Modi Government at Centre.
Speaking to media persons here, Shri Jaishankar said Odisha needs a good governance, corruption -free government to properly utilise the State’s vast and rich resources. Despite huge and rich mineral resources, Odisha is lagging in many sectors of development, he said.
The Union Minister arrived here on Saturday on a two-day visit to the State to hold discussions with party leaders and workers in the run-up to the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the State.
The resource utilization in the state needs good governance, employment-friendly and corruption-free government, Shri Jaishankar said and hoped that the people of Odisha will vote for BJP to carry forward the developmental agenda of Modi.
He claimed that Odisha occupies a special focus in PM Shri Modi’s development plan and said during the last ten years the Modi government has provided Rs.18 lakh crores of central funds to the State.
In Awas Yojana 2.7 lakh beneficiaries in the State have been provided with pucca houses while 53 lakh women have benefited under the Ujjala scheme and Rs 54,000 crores has been provided for the Sagarmala project in Odisha.
Shri Jaishankar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has great respect for Odisha’s culture, heritage, and tradition which has been recognized in the entire world. The replica of the Konark wheel displayed at the G20 summit has proved how much Modi ji loved the culture and tradition of Odisha, he noted.
Narendra Modi, he said, has taken immediate steps to evacuate Odia people stranded in the war-torn Ukraine, Israel, and Sudan.
“We hope that the people of Odisha will vote for Modi at the centre and also form the BJP government in the state as Odisha needs a BJP Government to carry forward Modi’s development agenda”, the Union Minister said.
The Union Government is providing all kinds of support and funding to the state. However, the state has not made much progress in execution of central schemes like PK Kisan scheme. The state has not implemented Ayushman Yojana, he pointed out.
G20 meetings were organized in different states including Odisha so that the states’ tourism potential is boosted, he added.
He said that the Narendra Modi-led central government has provided Rs 18 lakh crore to the state in terms of grants and tax devolution in the past 10 years.
The Centre has opened 20 passport service centres in different post offices across Odisha and nearly 1,25,000 people are availing the service each year while over 2.7 lakh people have got houses under the PM Awas Yojana, the union minister noted.
Expressing the hope that BJP would be able to cross 400-mark in Lok Sabha in the upcoming elections with Odisha’s support, the Minister said that the people of Odisha will vote to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Modi this time for their speedy development.