Bhubaneswar: The delay on the part of the Centre to release assistance to Odisha for drought mitigation even as it has allocated Rs 1,540 crore to Karnataka from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for the same purpose has stirred a political storm in the State.
The BJD has said it willl stage an agitation if the Central negligence towards Odisha continues.
The party’s spokesperson Pratap Deb said, “When nothing had occurred, the Central government sent a team to the State to assess the situation. However, when the time came for sanctioning funds to the State, they are on the back foot and are showing no urgency.We will definitely term the attitude as ‘negligence’ towards the State.”
Though two Central teams visited the State in October and December to take stock of the situation and gave statements saying drought had affected the farmers badly in Odisha, the Centre yet to release any funds to Odisha to mitigate the effects of drought.
Meanwhile, Congress held both the State and Central governments accountable for the sufferings of farmers and delay in release of compensation to them.
Opposition leader Narasingha Mishra stated, “There is a saying: ‘A bad workman quarrels with his tools’. Neither the Chief Minister nor the state government knows how to present their demands. They are not trying to push their demands forward.”
Reacting to the charges, BJP legislature party leader Basant Panda said, “The central government will provide financial assistance to the State soon as it has already said they will consider Odisha’s case. There is nothing much to worry about.”
Notably, a total of 215 blocks in 26 districts of Odisha are badly affected due to drought and the State government has demanded before the Centre for sanction of Rs 2,200 crore in two phases.