Bhubaneswar BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi on Saturday referred to the recent report of NITI Aayog’s SDGs index ranking putting Odisha among bottom five States and alleged that the State Government always hides truth to claim that its projects are best and world-class.
Sarangi, while stating that neither the Chief Minister nor his Government has answered her six questions asked in October last in the context of Covid management, posed five new questions and sought answers for all the 11 questions at the earliest.
She questioned why still 33 per cent of the State’s people are Below Poverty Line (BPL) even after 21 long years of the BJD regime. Why the State has ranked five from the bottom in NITI Ayog’s SDGs index? Why the Government is claiming the development of the entire State while only parts of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack are developed? What steps the Government has taken to stop violence against women? And what measures have been taken by the Government to ensure development of poor and youth population?
Sarangi expressed concern over the State’s ranking from 15 to 19, which brings it to the league of States like Nagaland and Chhattisgarh. In the critical aspects of poverty elevation, hunger mitigation, quality healthcare and lifestyle, quality education besides gender equality, Odisha has performed poorly, she pointed out.