BHUBANESWAR: Pointing out several discrepancies in the Niti Aayog's rankings for 2020-21 based on performance under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the ruling BJD on Saturday demanded that the assessment should be made at the panchayat level to get a real picture of the ground situation.
Stating that several schemes launched by the Odisha government in the health and agriculture sectors have not been taken into account, BJD Rajya Sabha member and national spokesperson Amar Patnaik said that the shortfall in performance when it came to the central schemes could have been overlooked.
Schemes like Mamata and Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana in the health sector have been praised at the international level, Patnaik said, adding, there was no mention of these in the Niti Aayog report. Instead, the report was prepared and the state's performance was assessed based on central schemes, he added.
Referring to the zero given to Odisha in the Ease of Doing Business, Patnaik said that the state attracted investment proposals worth over Rs 1.25 lakh crore since February 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic. This was more than what Maharashtra had attracted. Stating that the state was given 92.08 per cent marks in the Ease of Doing Business in the 2019 report, Patnaik asked how come it became zero a year later.
Quoting another assessment from the report showing that Odisha was not doing enough in fighting anaemia in women, adolescents and children, Patnaik said that the state has secured the second rank in the Mission for Making India Anaemia Free. The report should have taken this into account while making its assessment, he said and added that on several other parameters, there are huge discrepancies.
Besides, he asked how internet connectivity of a state can come down in 2020 in comparison to 2019? Odisha had received 123 marks in the 2019 report for internet services which has been reduced to 44 marks in the 2020-21 report.
Targeting BJP for doing politics over such a crucial issue, Patnaik said that there should be a discussion based on the report of the NITI Aayog to ensure further development in the State.
Patnaik also criticised BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi for not touching on these crucial issues in her media conference earlier during the day.