Government Draws Flak over Socio Census Report

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Saturday alleged that populist schemes launched by the State Government during the last 15 years have in no way helped in reducing poverty in Odisha.

 Schemes including rice at Rs  one per kilogram and meal at Rs  five given in four cities of the State, for which the Government spends Rs 1,400 crore, have only helped the ruling BJD garner votes, chairman of OPCC media cell Kailash Acharya told mediapersons here.

 Referring to the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 released by the Centre, Acharya alleged that the State has gone down in all spheres. While the number of landless households have increased to 46.6 lakh (54 per cent), income of 75.7 lakh households (88 per cent) is less than Rs 5,000 per month. Similarly, 6.2 lakh households have an income between Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per month, he said.