BHUBANESWAR: A day ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Odisha, the BJP released a political chargesheet against the 25 years of BJD “misrule” in the state.
Releasing the chargesheet titled ‘25 years of evil deeds’ of BJD government, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said the ruling dispensation has not only looted the bountiful mineral resources of Odisha but cheated people by depriving them of the welfare schemes of Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
Launching a scathing attack on the Naveen Patnaik government, Yadav said the regional party has not fulfilled a single promise it had made to people. “The BJD government had promised to create irrigation potential for at least 35 per cent of the cultivable land in each block with cold storage facility. While area covered under irrigation is diminishing, farmers suffered huge losses due to lack of cold stores,” he said.
The KALIA scheme launched by the BJD to supplement farmers’ income is now floundering as only 44 lakh farmers are getting financial assistance against 75 lakh as promised. “The income of Odisha’s farmers is one of the lowest in the country because of the anti-farmer policies of the state government,” he said.
Rising unemployment amid huge vacancies in different departments of the state government have triggered large-scale migration of youth workforce from the state to other parts of the country in search of jobs.
As per reports published by media, over 40,000 labourers of Odisha migrated to other states last year alone. He said the unemployment rate which was 3.8 per cent in 2015-16 went up to 6.2 per cent in 2019-20. This proves that the BJD government has failed to fulfil the aspiration of youth.
The Union minister said the health and education system in the state has crumbled due to large-scale vacancies of doctors and teachers. Quoting government reports, he said more than 4,300 posts of teachers in higher education are lying vacant while around 8,000 schools have been closed from 2015 to 2021.
Describing the BJD government as a ‘government of scams’, Yadav said the Justice MB Shah Commission had exposed mining scam in the state to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore. “Now the government has committed another fraud by supplying cheaper thermal power from the state to Tamil Nadu while charging higher power tariff from consumers within Odisha,” he added.
The Tamil Nadu Generation Distribution Corporation is buying power at 2.53 paisa per unit from Odisha while the consumers of the state are being charged 2.83 paisa per unit. The state government owes an explanation to people on this peculiar arrangement, Yadav said .
He attacked the government for its inefficiency in meeting the needs of people including safe drinking water despite huge assistance from the Central government. The state has miserably failed to cover all households with tap water despite receiving Central assistance to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore.
Expressing concern over rise in crimes and atrocities against women, the union minister said the rate of suicide among women has increased by 613 per cent which is alarming. Odisha has achieved the dubious distinction of a state having highest rate of crimes as per the NCRB report. “We will go to people with this report card of the BJD government and the good governance and Modi’s Guarantee before elections. We are confident people will bless us to form a double-engine government in the state,” Yadav said.
State BJP president Manmohan Samal and Opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi also criticised Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for allowing a few officers to run the government. People have decided to change the ‘officer raj’ by bringing BJP to power, they added.