BJP seeks white paper on Covid management expenditure

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the ruling BJD has urged the Centre to release the second instalment of the untied grants of 15th Finance Commission for 2021-22 to rural local bodies (RLBs), the BJP on Monday demanded a white paper from the State government on expenditure made on  management of second wave of Covid-19.

Claiming that Odisha government’s coffers are empty,  State BJP vice president Bhrugu Baxipatra said the expenditure so far made for Covid management in the State was borne out of the funds available under Central grants and assistance, National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF), District Mineral Foundation (DMF) Trust fund, Odisha Mineral Bearing Area Development Corporation (OMBADC) and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

“Let the State government make its budgetary provision for Covid management for the current fiscal, expenditure so far made and the sources of funding to fight the pandemic public,” Baxipatra said. The BJP has been asking the State government to give a detailed account of expenditure made to fight the pandemic in 2020-21. The government tried its best to reply to several questions put forward by BJP legislators in the budget session of the Assembly. 

The objective of creating separate funds for DMF and OMBADC is to bring in transformation in the lives of the people affected by intensive mining activities. Since there are huge deposits in the two specially designed funds, the State government is misutilising the funds to gain chip political mileage, said the BJP leader. 

The State government had no problem on financial front last year. “It splurged money like anything without seeking any Central assistance. Sarpanchs were given the powers of district Collector. We fail to understand why the same government has taken a U-turn when the Covid situation across the State is worsening and people are crying for immediate medical assistance,” he said.

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