BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday urged the Centre to make Odisha a special focus state and allocate funds for disaster proofing. Addressing the governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, the Chief Minister said as the State is impacted almost every year by natural disasters, it is important to have disaster resilient infrastructure to protect the State and its people from the vagaries of nature.
The Chief Minister also raised the issue of Central neglect and said that Odisha has the lowest density telecom, railways and banking infrastructure. “Historically we have been neglected in the subjects in the Central list including telecom, railways and banking. We have the lowest density in all these crucial infrastructures and I would urge the Centre to give special focus to Odisha,” he added.
Stating that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has some implementation issues because of which genuine farmers have remained deprived in some cases, Chief Minister said and adding NITI Aayog may study this and suggest ways to protect the interest of farmers.
Referring to the rural housing scheme, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Naveen said most of the tribal and KBK districts have been bypassed from the new allocation. He requested the Centre to immediately resolve this issue and allocate houses as the Odisha government has complied to all the queries raised in this regard.
He suggested that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) should be transformed and AMSAR Act amended to make the systems in the country on par with global benchmarks as conservation and preservation systems have changed globally both in terms of technology and legal framework. This will greatly help in protecting heritage sites including Konark, he added.
He appreciated the role played by the Prime Minister as the then Chief Minister of Gujarat in protecting and conserving step wells in Gujarat including the ‘Rani Ka Vav’ listed as a UNESCO heritage site.
Stating that India is at the crossroads of becoming a great economic superpower rooted in inclusive growth and NITI Aayog can play an important role in facilitating this.
He also maintained that NITI Aayog should resolve disputes arising in the implementation of Central schemes as this will promote cooperative federalism and speedy implementation of schemes. “We all accept that the State and Central governments are political entities and sometimes there are disputes in the implementation of Central schemes,” he added.