Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who visited Nuapada district on Sunday, interacted with his BJP members at Khariar and then attended the silver jubilee function of a degree College at Tukla.
Addressing the Press before the party meeting, Pradhan said the purpose of his visit was to discuss with party members about the failure and inability of the State Government to address the problems of people.
“The party under the leadership of the party State president Basant Panda had conducted rallies all over the district to raise public awareness about how the incapable and inactive State Government has failed to transfer benefit of various welfare policies and programmes of the Centre to the common people.” said Pradhan. “Everything sent by the Centre for people’s benefit is being utilised for the benefit of the State’s ruling party. The Central Government made provision for transferring development fund directly to the panchayats under the Fourteenth Finance Commission, but the State Government is acting with bad motives and planning to create obstruction so that the fund is misappropriated by party people at the Bhubaneswar level and by party big shots at district level. They are hatching strategies to restrict the rights of the panchayats,” he alleged.
Pradhan observed that the resentment among people due to corruption in selection of beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act would be reflected in the upcoming gram panchayat elections.
The Khadial Vikash Manch, a citizens’ forum of Khariar, presented a memorandum to the Minister demanding allotment of fund for construction of a railway line from Kantabanji to Jeypore via Khariar and widening of NH-353 inside Khariar town.
Pradhan said he has received a memorandum from Khariar MlA Duryodhan Majhi in this regard and is pursuing the matter with the Government. He advised the Manch members to come to Delhi with party president Panda and MlA Majhi to meet the Prime Minister to discuss about the issues of Nuapada district.
Ajit Panda, Tapan Dash, Motilal Bag, Sanjay Tiwari, Parameswar Barik, Bijaya Sahish and Jagdish Suna represented the Manch.
The Paharia-Kamar community of the district, who is deprived of tribal status after Independence, also submitted a memorandum to the Minister demanding tribal status.
“We have been excluded from tribal list in Odisha after Independence although our kith and kin are treated as a primitive tribal group in Chhattisgarh and MP. The proposal of the State Government for consideration of our demand is pending with the Central Government. So, we requested the Minister to pursue our case with the Centre,” said Nuapada Kamar Vikash Manch secretary Sukal Paharia.