Odisha doesn't have any special disadvantage: Ahluwalia

Montek Singh advices Odisha to focus on other windows to get more assistances from the Centre

Odisha does not have any "special disadvantage" to get special category status and it should focus on "other windows" to get more assistances from the Centre, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said.

"Special category status is accorded to a state under very special circumstances and Odisha doesn't have any special disadvantage to get such status," Ahluwalia said at a question-answer session after delivering a memorial lecture at Ravenshaw University here yesterday.

"Within the existing framework in the state, Odisha can achieve phenomenal growth rate," he said, adding that there were many other windows available for the state to get more money from the Centre.

"The special category status is never meant for a state because it has low income," he said, adding that NDC which decides on it has received demands from Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Bihar along with Odisha for this category.

But recently, the same was accorded to a bifurcated state of Andhra Pradesh because it was deprived of its capital Hyderabad along with lots of resources, Ahluwalia said.

Odisha is economically doing better now and the demand for special category status is "politically biased," he said.