People will get rid of BJD, make a new Odisha: Pradhan

Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday called for the ouster of BJD from power in Odisha, dubbing the present dispensation as "corrupt and inefficient" which has failed to deliver good governance.

"It is time to change the government in Odisha as the BJD regime has failed to provide good governance during its 19-year rule," Pradhan said while addressing a public meeting at Bhismagiri under Digaphandi Assembly constituency in Ganjam, the home district of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Kick-starting the BJP's campaign for Assembly and Lok Sabha elections next year, the Union minister took part in the party's ongoing Jana Paramarsha Yatra' (people contact programme) in the village and said People have made up their mind to defeat BJD and to make a new Odisha.

Hitting out at the Naveen Patnaik-led government, Pradhan said youths are forced to move out of the state in search of jobs as the government has failed to provide them means of livelihood.

The government has also failed to provide irrigation facilities, while a large number of posts of doctors are lying vacant in hospitals, he said adding that in Ganjam district alone, as many as 34 primary health centres are running without doctors.

Pradhan also slammed the state government for not joining the Centre's flagship health scheme -- Ayushwan Bharat Yojana. As a result, thousands of Odia people, who work outside the state, are deprived of its benefits, he alleged.

Pradhan also criticised the state government's 'Mo Gaon Mo Bikash' (My village, my development) and the recently launched 'Peetha' (People empowerment enabling transparency and accountability) schemes, saying they are meant for distributing "wealth to party workers".