Pradeep Singh

Taking a swipe at the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje on Thursday said people in the State are deprived of the benefits of Central schemes due to the alleged apathy and non-cooperation of the ruling BJD.

Though the Narendra Modi government is providing all possible assistance to the State, there has been a poor progress of the welfare schemes funded by the Centre in Odisha, alleged the Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.

Addressing a presser after reviewing various development programmes of the Centre in Nabarangpur district under the aspirational district programme, Karandlaje said the Centre has been sanctioning crores of rupees for food security, health and irrigation sectors, but the funds are getting embezzled at different levels. 

Alleging that deserving beneficiaries are not getting houses under the Central housing scheme, she said, "Houses are not being built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana here. The Centre is proving 5 kg rice and 1 kg daal for free under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, but people here in Odisha are not getting the benefits."

If the Central funds are used for the development works they are meant for, people of Odisha would not have to miss out on the benefits of the welfare schemes, she said.

"Even after so much assistance being provided by the Centre, there has been a slow progress of the Central schemes here. So, I urge the BJD government to cooperate and help people of Odisha avail the benefits of the Central schemes," the Union Minister added.

Meanwhile, BJD leader Pradeep Majhi termed the allegations of the Union Minister as false and baseless. "There has been a massive development in Nabarangpur. The BJD government will also take several other development works in the coming days. Such allegations of the Union Minister against the State government have hurt the people of Nabarangpur," said Majhi.

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