BHUBANESWAR: Describing the railway budget for 2025-26 as disappointing for Odisha, the BJD on Tuesday alleged that no steps have been taken by the BJP government to improve the railway density in the state.
Party’s national spokesperson Amar Patnaik demanded that the rail density in Odisha be made equal to other states. While the rail densities of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand are 47.5, 24.3 and 32.6 per cent respectively, it is only 17 per cent in Odisha, he said.
The party also said President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the Parlament side-stepped the pressing concerns faced by the country as well as Odisha.
Participating in the motion of thanks on the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha, BJD MP Sasmit Patra said the address failed to acknowledge rising inflation, high unemployment and farmers’ distress in the country.
Patra said for nearly two decades, the BJD has demanded special category state status for Odisha. However, despite the President’s own experience with Odisha’s challenges, including devastating cyclones, this critical demand was not addressed in the speech, he said.
Patra said it also ignored the long-standing demand for the inclusion of 139 communities in the ST list, as well as the inclusion of Ho, Mundari, Bhumij, Kui, and Saora languages in the 8th schedule of the Constitution.