CM criticizes Centre for not releasing funds to State for different schemes

Bhubaneswar, Jan 29: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has criticized the Centre for  not releasing the pending funds worth Rs 6,400 crore to the State with only a month left to the completion of current financial year.

In a meeting at Odisha Bhawan in New Delhi on Monday to review the status of various State government projects pending before the Centre, CM Naveen said that he has directed the officials to take up the issue with the Centre for early release of the pending funds. Patnaik said the delay in release of funds has made it difficult for the state government to implement various projects.

“About Rs 6400 crores is yet to be released by the government of India. This includes more than Rs 1000 crore for housing, more than Rs 375 crore in health sector, over Rs Rs 400 crore under NREGS, more than Rs 650 crore in agriculture,” Naveen said after the review meeting.

The Chief Minister further said that under smart city poverty alleviation programme, the State government has received only Rs 6 crore instead of Rs 200 crore and  the State government has spent around Rs 3000 crore in drinking water projects, the Centre has released only Rs 180 crore, the CM said.

“I have deputed various officers from Odisha Bhawan to follow up with the concerned ministries regarding what is owed to us,” said Patnaik.

However, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan refuted the allegation of the Chief Minister and said, the comments of the Chief Minister was an attempt to hide the failures of the ruling party.