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Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today expressed concern over "arbitrary cuts" being effected under certain central schemes which, he said, resulted in incomplete projects and time and cost overruns.
Citing the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) while participating in the first NITI Aayog meeting, he said that non-availability of funds for irrigation, rural roads and railway projects was retarding the progress of various infrastructure projects in the state.
He brought to the attention of the Prime Minister that the railway route length and rail density in Odisha continued to remain well below the national average.
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This, he said, called for enhanced provisions for all the ongoing railway projects for ensuring their completion in the next three years and sanction of new railway lines for profitable projects and uncovered areas.
Patnaik mentioned that both the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor and Eastern India Amritsar-Kolkata Corridor have bypassed Odisha and expressed his hope that the central government would correct this oversight and extend Vishakhapatnam-Chennai Corridor till Balasore, at the earliest.
The Chief Minister expressed his disappointment with some provisions of the recent Ordinance on MMDR Act such as the provision of deemed extension under Section 8A which restricts the number of leases that can come up for auction during the next five years.
He suggested that no further extension be given to leases that have completed 50 years and sought that all such leases be settled afresh through auction in a transparent manner.
Highlighting the pollution load faced by the state on account of coal mining and washing of coal and extraction of other minerals, he demanded that a Green Tax be imposed to compensate the state for "negative externalities" caused by mining.
He said that Odisha faces natural disasters every alternate year with huge adverse impact on the resources of the state and demanded that this fact must be factored in by the new dispensation while deciding on the allocation of resources to the state.
