The BJP pulled up the State Government for eight district Collectors skipping the two-day NITI Aayog meeting on backward districts launched in New Delhi on Thursday and termed the move as ‘anti-development mentality’ of the BJD Government.
“District Collectors are acting as the district presidents of the BJD. The ruling party’s excessive interference into the affairs of the district administration has hindered development. The Government’s decision not to sent eight Collectors of backward districts was announced by a BJD spokesperson yesterday. The people would consider the justification behind this,” he said.
Mohanty demanded that the concerned Collectors make it clear on whose written direction they didn’t attend the meeting.
It may be noted that Finance Minister Sashi Bhushan Behera had on Wednesday stated that that it would not participate in the Prabhari Officers Meet convened by the Niti Aayog in New Delhi on January 4 and 5.
“The idea of appointing Prabhari Officers for development of backward districts creates confusion. Therefore, Odisha will not cooperate with the Niti Aayog in this regard,” said Behera.
Earlier, the Niti Aayog had appointed eight Joint and Additional Secretary rank officers serving in the Union Government as the Prabhari Officers to monitor development process in eight economically backward district of Odisha. The districts are Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Gajapati, Malkangiri, Koraput, Balangir and Dhenkanal.
For this, the Niti Aayog had not consulted the State Government, an official said.
The Niti Aayog has identified a total of 115 districts as backward areas across the country and appointed Prabhari Officers for them.
The Niti Aayog had earlier requested the States to send Collectors of these backward districts to attend the meeting for "convergence, integration and focused attention to backward districts" on January 4.
While justifying the State Government's decision not to cooperate with the Niti Aayog in this regard, Behera pointed out that this initiative is detrimental to the Federal structure of the country.