Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has revived his demand of Special Category Status (SCS) for Odisha as the eastern state is bracing up for the simultaneous election with general election in April.
On Firday Naveen Patnaik has written a letter to PM Narendra Modi to accord Odisha the special category status that his “government has been demanding on the premises of historical central neglect and frequent natural calamity.”
SCS has been a long-standing demand of Naveen Patnaik without getting any headway. In fact, Odisha does not fit in the set parameters to be qualified for the status.
The CM has requested Modi to consider the case of Odisha as a “unique one”. Providing the SCS, Naveen Patnaik claims, “will further accelerate the Industrial development and in turn more jobs for our youth.”
The Odisha CM mentions that the nation benefits immensely from Odisha’s iron ore deposit and other mineral resources; through its coal reserve, Odisha plays a major role in the energy security of the country; Indian railway earns maximum revenue from Odisha. Still, “Odisha remains at the bottom in the country in most central subjects like telecommunication density, railway network, banking network and coverage, national highways and air connectivity.”
On the natural disaster front, Naveen Patnaik in the letter has noted that for unique geo- climatic condition 80percent of the geographical area and 90 percent of the people of Odisha are vulnerable to recurring natural disasters. Odisha faces one or multiple natural calamities like Flood, Cyclone, tornado or drought every year sustaining heavy damage.
The CM, in the letter, has described the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) as the apparatus to take care of the calamities are not helping Odisha sufficiently against the calamities of severe nature, thus leaving Odisha to manage the recovery and reconstruction works from its own limited resources.
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