Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Chemicals & Fertilisers and Statistics & Programme Implementation, Srikant Jena today blamed the Odisha government for diluting its demand for special category status by presenting a rosy picture on state's financial health before the Centre.
"The state government claims that the poverty is reduced from 57.2 per cent in 2004-05 to 37 per cent in 2009 with the cumulative reduction pegged at 29 per cent. On one hand, the state government is asking for special category status on the basis of large-scale poverty in the state while on the other hand, it is claiming that the economy is robust and poverty percentage has declined, which are contradictory," Jena told media persons here.
Reacting to the Planning Commission refusal to accord special status to Odisha, he said, the letter categorically mentions about 'existing' criteria and the debate is currently on whether the existing criteria is adequate to address the demands of states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, apart from Odisha, or needs changes.
It may be noted that the plan panel has spurned the demand of Odisha saying that the state with stable fiscal indicators and devoid of an international border does not meet the criteria.
"A committee has been formed under the chairmanship of C Rangarajan to see if there is any need to change the criteria or not and it has been asked by the finance ministry to submit its report in a month. The changes, if any, will come into effect after it is approved at the National Development Council meeting. Not only Odisha, other backward states will also be benefitted," Jena pointed out.
Referring to the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the launching ceremony of a TV channel promoted by a chit fund company, he alleged that the chief minister along with other members of his ministry are involved in the chit fund scam, which has rocked the state recently.
