Odisha to give Rs 2.5 lakh to Panchayats for sports equipment, Opposition cries foul

The Opposition in Odisha, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saw red over the announcement by the state government to provide Rs 2.5 lakh to each Panchayat for sports development in their respective areas.

While the Biju Janata Dal (BJD)-led State government said it is for the development of youths, the BJP termed it as a ploy to influence young voters in rural areas.

“This is a farce to influence the young voters of rural Odisha. But this is not going to fetch them any votes, because the youths already know their ploy,” said BJP MLA Mukesh Mahaling.

The Congress on the other hand compared the scheme with ‘Biju Yuva Bahini’. Senior Congress leader and MLA, Suresh Routray said, “This is a ploy to embezzle taxpayers money. They had formed Biju Yuva Bahini before the last election in a similar fashion. Where is it now? The BJD knows the youths and students are distancing themselves from the party. These schemes will not work to lure them again.”

The BJD however, ruled out the allegations of influencing voters. Speaking to reporters, BJD MLA Parshuram Dhada said, “It will not be right to term Biju Yuva Bahini a failure. Different types of schemes are introduced looking at the ground situation. The youths are already with us and they will remain with the BJD in the future too.”

One of the components of the recently launched scheme, "Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha" is the development of sports facilities for the youth and the promotion of sports in the rural areas of Odisha.

To facilitate this, the Odisha government has proposed to provide sports equipment to the youth at the Gram Panchayat level. As per the government, provision for good quality sports equipment will motivate the youth towards sports and will ensure their physical and mental well-being as well as overall personality development.

Since some sports disciplines are more popular in specific districts and areas, the government has advised concerned GPs to take decisions on the purchase of equipment as per the popularity of the sports in their respective Panchayats.

The government has set aside Rs 2.5 Lakh per Gram Panchayat under the "Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha" intervention to purchase sports equipment.