The allocation of Rs 81.04 crore made by the state finance minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei in the Vote of Account for a four month period (April-July 2010) for launch of the anti-Naxal operations has evoked mixed reactions.
While the ruling BJD leaders and economists have hailed that the move would give a moral boost to the police personnel, the state Congress and BJP leaders have said that the allocation is only to match the share of the Central funds. “It is perhaps for the first time that the Orissa government has allocated funds for anti-Naxal operations and this step will definitely boost the morale of the police personnel who are deployed at the Maoist infested regions of the state”, said Pradip Kumar Panigrahi, the BJD MLA from Gopalpur in south Orissa's Ganjam district.
The allocation of funds for anti-Moist operations indicates that the state government has taken the menace posed by the Red rebels seriously, said BJD Rajya Sabha MP Renubala Pradhan. The allocation of funds for the anti-Naxal operations in the state in the Vote-on-Account will boost the morale of the police forces active in the anti-Naxal operations, a noted economist said on the condition of anonymity. Commenting on the move, Bibhuti Jena, president of BJP's youth wing said that the allocation for the anti-Naxal operations is only to the matching share of the Central funds.
The leaders of all political parties, however, stressed on commencing of the anti-Naxal operations in the state. Sixteen out of 30 districts in the state are reeling under the Maoist menace. A senior Congress leader, however, ridiculed the finance minister’s claim to achieve the growth rate of the state at 12.98 per cent at the year end at a time when the state’s agriculture production was dwindling sharply. “We don’t think it (growth) will reach 12.98 per cent”, said Chitta Ranjan Dash, a senior Congress leader said here.
The biggest challenge before the state is to increase the capital expenditure as well as expenditure of the external funds within the stipulated time period, he added. Besides the priority sectors like agriculture, irrigation, allied and social sectors, the government should have to give much emphasis on the capital expenditure as it indicates the financial health of a state, the economists said reacting to the Vote-on Account.
