BHUBANESWAR : Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Odisha on Tuesday, the BJD has demanded that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi should take the opportunity to raise the issues of coal royalty revision and establishment of permanent bench of Orissa High Court in western Odisha before him.
BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra said coal royalty has not been revised since 2012 though former chief minister Naveen Patnaik had been pressing for it with the Centre. Stating that Odisha is losing revenue of Rs 10,000 crore every year due to non-revision of royalty, Patra said the matter was raised by BJD MPs several times in Parliament but no action has been taken.
The state now has a good opportunity as it has a double-engine government, but even after three months of assuming office, the CM has maintained a silence on the issue, he said.
Referring to establishment of HC bench in western Odisha, Patra said Union minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal had said on August 8 that Centre is awaiting a response from the state government in this regard. Though over a month has elapsed, the government is yet to take a stand, he alleged.
The BJD MP said as the PM is visiting the state to launch the Subhadra Yojana, Majhi should draw his attention to both these issues.