BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah on Saturday said the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has given Rs 4.57 lakh crore under devolution and grant-in-aid so far to Odisha against Rs 1.14 lakh crore given under the two heads by the previous government.
Shah dedicated the four-lane NH-53 from Kamakhyanagar to Duburi and laid foundation stone for widening and strengthening of the road from Motar to Baner via Ladugaon in Kalahandi district at a cost of Rs 34 crore. The 51-km NH-53 stretch built at a cost of Rs 761 crore will connect the coal belt of Talcher to the steel hub in Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district and the rest of the country, while the Motar-Baner road will be constructed at a cost of Rs 34 crore.
He said the Modi government has increased the total allocation from Rs 3 lakh crore to Rs 18 lakh crore which is more than six times during the period. He said the prime minister provided Rs 10,000 crore for the railways in Odisha, laid Indian Oil pipeline at a cost of Rs 800 crore, built IIT-Bhubaneswar, opened Indian Science Education and Research Centre and upgraded ESI Hospital in the state capital and 1,500-bed AIIMS-Bhubaneswar.
The Union minister also reviewed disaster preparedness and appreciated the chief minister for implementing every disaster management initiative of the Centre. “Thousands of people had lost their lives in the super cyclone that hit Odisha in 1999, but nowadays whenever a cyclone hits the state, there are zero casualties. Odisha is a natural disaster prone state. Along with the initiatives of the Centre, the state government itself has taken many new initiatives to tackle the calamities. This gives the impression when the Central and state governments work together, natural disasters can be mitigated,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the New Odisha is a unique transformation story that has been setting benchmarks across various sectors.“My government believes connectivity is key to progress and empowerment of our people. Gurupriya bridge connecting Swabhiman Anchal in Malkangiri has played a catalytic role in the development of the entire region,” he said.
The Biju ExpressWay, Naveen said, is being developed as an economic corridor connecting western part with the south and will be a crucial platform to propel growth in the region.Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the Centre has adopted a focused approach towards eastern states in the form of Prime Minister’s Purvodaya vision. Odisha has received a significant amount from various projects, he said.