BJP today accused the BJD government in Odisha of being unable to mitigate the plight of farmers, tribals, Dalits and women and decided to highlight the developmental programmes launched by the Centre before the public.
In resolutions adopted at the state executive meeting of BJP Odisha unit held in Puri, the party decided to 'expose' the failure of BJD in the last 16 years and tell people about the agenda set by the BJP to ensure speedy development of all sections in the country.
Voicing concern over 'tardy' progress in the state, the party claimed that due to the inefficiency of the BJD government, it has failed to economically empower farmers, women, youths, tribals, dalits and backward sections of society despite being in power since the year 2000.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Odisha twice recently, BJP leaders said the PM has set a clear goal of ensuring balanced and overall development of the state by promoting entrepreneurship among the youths and strengthening the agriculture sector.
The BJP accused BJD of trying to mislead the people by making claims about neglect by the Centre in order to hide its inefficiency and failure on all fronts. However, BJP would fine tune its strategy to expose and unmask BJD, they said.
Dubbing the state's budget for 2016-17 as highly disappointing, BJP said meagre provisions have been made for various developmental programmes, while bulk of allocations are are meant for salaries, pensions and loan re-payment.
A lion's share of the state's budget comes from central grants and taxes, they said adding that the state government has been making false campaign about cut in central funds for different programmes.
Accusing the BJD Government of failing to safeguard the interests of farmers, BJP said the CAG has also pointed out that majority of farmers in Odisha are not covered by insurance schemes. Even insured farmers are facing difficulties in getting the benefits.
A number of issues like power crisis, drinking water problem, unscheduled power cuts, shortage of doctors and teachers and price rise were discussed at the day-long meeting attended by senior party leaders like Union Ministers Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan, party State in-charge Arun Singh and state unit president Basant Panda.
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The political resolution of BJP said the BJD government failed to set up godown for food grains in every panchayat, while potato prices sky-rocketed despite launch of a potato mission a year ago.
Terming the potato mission as a big failure, BJP said there are only five cold storages and the total storage capacity stood only at 63,780, which is one tenth of the capacity available in neighbouring West Belgal.
While production of milk and egg remained abysmally low compared to growing demands in the state, food processing facilities were virtually non-existent, it said.
Describing the power crisis as grave, the BJP said despite tall claims made by the state government, only 2900 MW electricity is generated as against the peak hour demand of 3700 MW.
The party also hit out at the BJD government over growing unemployment and alleged irregularities in National Food Security Act (NFSA). The party expressed concern over a large number of youths migrating outside the state in search of jobs in the absence of employment opportunities here.
Stating that the situation in the health sector was pathetic, it said as many as 1016 of the 4682 sanctioned posts of doctors remained vacant in the state. Similar is the situation in education, it said.
Terming the law and order situation as dismal, the party alleged that mafia and gangsters are being patronised by ruling BJD leaders and legislators.
People were looted by unscrupulous elements through chit fund companies with direct and indirect support and assistance of ruling BJD leaders, the party alleged.
