Orissa interest ignored, says Naveen

The Union budget of 2009-10 has ignored the interests of poor states like Orissa and the state would lose Rs 353.56 crore by way of assistance from the Centre in this fiscal, said Naveen Patnaik, the state chief minister.

“Orissa’s share of Central taxes was projected at Rs 8849.49 crore in the interim budget of the Centre which was presented earlier. However, the state’s share has been reduced to Rs 8,495.93 crore in the Union budget of 2009-10 as a result of which it will lose Rs 353.56 crore by way of Central assistance”, he told reporters here. Commenting on the Union budget for 2009-10, he said, “This budget has not announced anything to reduce the impact of the economic slowdown on states like Orissa. The budget is only a bland continuation of the existing schemes which does not satisfy the interests and requirements of the common man.”

Patnaik pointed out that the Union budget had no specific provision for providing rice and wheat to the BPL (below poverty line) families at Rs 3 per kg even though this scheme was much talked about by the politicians of the UPA regime at the time of the recent general elections.

Stating that the Union budget did not provide increased allocation for the backward KBK (Kalahandi, Bolangir and Keonjhar) region of Orissa, he said that the budget also did not provide increased allocation for tackling left-wing extremism.

The chief minister further said, the Union budget which has allocated Rs 1,000 crore for the victims of the Aila cyclone in West Bengal did not provide anything for the people affected by the devastating floods in Orissa in 2008.

Prafulla Chandra Ghadai, the state finance minister said that there is a need for higher borrowing by the states given the downturn in the flow of revenues. The limit for fiscal deficit for the states should have been fixed at atleast 5 per cent of the GDP instead of 4 per cent as announced by the Union finance minister, said Ghadai. He rued that no specific scheme has been announced for the development of Orissa’s handloom sector even though the sector has won international acclaim. Similarly much needed social sector outlay and intervention has not been given any impetus.