Dubbing the Union Budget as disappointing, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today said the state, ravaged by natural calamities, has been completely neglected while special assistance has been declared for Bihar and West Bengal.
"As regards Odisha, I am deeply disappointed both with the recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission and the Union Budget," Patnaik told reporters while reacting to the Union Budget for 2015-16.
While the budget indicates a focus on rapid development of eastern states and special assistance has been declared for Bihar and West Bengal, Odisha has been completely neglected, the chief minister said.
"Our state faced two of the worst calamities in last two years in the form of Phailin and Hud Hud. At least on this score, Odisha deserved special focus," he said, adding "I am shocked that this fact has been completely overlooked in the budget inspite of our repeated demands."
No central allocation for Nabakalebara-2015 of Lord Jagannath has been made even though there has been a flow of resources for improvement of facilities in nine other heritage sites in the country, Patnaik said.
Stating that Odisha's share in tax devolution would come down from 4.78 per cent to 4.60 per cent, he said this would involve a loss of about Rs 4,600 crore over a period of five years because of the inclusion of new criteria such as "Demographic Changes" i.E. Population as per 2011 census and deletion of the criteria of "Fiscal Discipline.
