Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday reiterated his demand for Special Category State (SCS) status for Odisha by proposing that the Centre include natural calamities as a criterion for according the SCS tag to a State like Odisha.
“As an interim measure, States hit by major natural calamities may be declared as Special Focus States and granted benefits of special category status for a specific period,” said Patnaik during the fifth governing council meeting of the Niti Aayog chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Patnaik informed the Centre about the large-scale devastation and massive losses in the State caused by Cyclone Fani. He demanded more funds from the Centre to handle the post-Fani situation.
Besides, Patnaik also proposed that the PM-KISSAN scheme should include landless agriculture households and sharecroppers.
The Chief Minister too reiterated the demand that the royalty on coal be revised from the present 14 per cent to 20 per cent of sale value and all irrigation projects which are lying incomplete as on April 1, 2019 be included under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).
The Union Government should allocate a much higher quantum of resources for watershed, command area development and drinking water, he proposed.
Projects need to be expedited to extend rail connectivity to Kandhamal, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri districts; bank facilities should be extended to unbanked gram panchayats; and the Bharatnet project should also be implemented at a faster pace, proposed Patnaik.