BHUBANESWAR:Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his criticism of Odisha Government over the issues of corruption and ‘PC culture’. Naveen also did not spare Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan by pointing towards scams in the implementation of Skill Mission and Ujjwala schemes without taking his name.
On the Prime Minister’s remarks on ‘PC culture’, Naveen said, “He must have said that to enthuse his political workers. In fact, they should be thinking of their own Skill Mission and Ujjwala scams. They should also think very seriously about the record rocketing prices of petrol and diesel for which people of the country are suffering.”
Defending the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, Naveen said the Odisha Government launched its health assurance scheme as the Central scheme was not all encompassing. On Modi’s criticism of lack of health services and food security in Odisha, Naveen said, “The Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) covers extra 50 lakh beneficiaries which the Centre’s scheme does not provide. Under the scheme, we extend health assistance of `7 lakh for women compared to the Central Government’s `5 lakh. As far as food security scheme is concerned, we provide the benefit to 25 lakh more poor people.”On the issue of offer of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman post to BJD, Naveen said, “That is not correct. We supported Nitish Kumar’s candidate who was later supported by NDA.”
Talking to mediapersons, the Chief Minister said he requested the Prime Minister to name the Jharsuguda airport after freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai. The Prime Minister agreed to the proposal and made the announcement, he said and added that he also demanded that the airport should be a full-fledged one with Air India flights added to the UDAN flights.
Naveen said, “In Talcher, where the PM laid the foundation stone for the fertiliser plant, I made the demand that 50 per cent of the urea to be produced in the plant should be for the benefit of Odisha’s farmers.” Naveen also urged Modi to increase the rate of coal royalty as Odisha being the coal-bearing State is affected by the mining activities.