Five things need to know about Odisha CM, Niti Ayoga VC discussion

BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday held a discussion with Niti Ayoga vice-chairman Aravind Panagariya regarding several issues of Odisha.

Here are the key points that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik raised before him.

• There is a need to put in place mechanisms and operational guidelines to jointly pursue the national and sub-national development agenda. This calls for the formulation of a strategic plan for the entire country by the NITI Aayog and similar exercise at the State and District levels.
• Though there has been an increase in the devolution of Central Taxes from 32% to 42% for Odisha, there would be a net loss in Central fund flow to the tune of Rs.1776.31 crore during 2015-16.
• Delinking Area Development Programmes like Special Plan for KBK Districts, Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF) and Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for LWE affected districts from Central Assistance will seriously affect the development programmes in the backwards and LWE affected districts of the State. Support for development of the backwards areas may be restored.
• In order to enable the State Government to go for a realistic budget, there should be a single window system for communication of annual allocation and share pattern of CSS to the State sufficiently in advance, preferably by mid-December of the preceding financial year.
• Odisha’s contribution to the process of nation-building in terms of use of its natural resources is significant. Demands have been raised by the State Government several times in the past before Government of India for declaring Odisha as a Special Category State, which has not yet been favourably considered. Odisha State fulfils all the criteria for Special Category State except International boundaries. A special dispensation should be made in case of Odisha in this regard.