The State’s major Opposition parties, the Congress and the BJP, have questioned the real motive behind the Government’s announcement of Rs5-meal under a new scheme, Aahar, for the urban poor in five cities from April 1.
While the Congress has termed it as politically motivated and said it is aimed at the elections to the urban local bodies in Rourkela, Sambalpur and some NACs, the BJP has launched an attack on the Naveen Patnaik Government saying that it wants the State’s people to remain poor forever.
Congress leader and former Nabarangpur MP Pradip Majhi said, “The offer of rice and dalma at Rs5 for the urban poor is purely a political gimmick to get votes and nothing else. Since civic elections in Rourkela, Sambalpur and six Notified Area Councils (NACs) will be held in a few days’ time, this has been done to influence voters. Further, this also proves that the number of poor and unemployed has spiraled in the urban areas and, hence, there is a need of feeding them at Rs5 a square meal to survive.”The BJP has advised the Chief Minister that he should rather try to free the State from poverty in the next five years rather than want it to remain poor always.
Senior BJP leader Suresh Pujari said the queue-up for Rs 1-a-kg rice, Rs5-a meal, umbrellas, blankets, etc., shows that the Government wants people to continue to remain poor and depend on the Government always. Has the government ever implemented a single scheme to make Odisha poverty-free and make it self-sufficient, he asked.
The ruling BJD, however, has defended the scheme, saying it should not be given a political colour as it is aimed at benefitting the genuinely poor people who do not have the means to buy themselves a meal while they attend courts and hospitals.
BJD spokesperson and MlA Amar Prasad Satpathy said poor people coming to hospitals, courts and the district Collectors’ offices for their work are unable to buy a costly meal at the railway stations or bus-stands. So, this scheme would be highly beneficial for them. Odisha would be the third State to implement it after Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.