With a view to take political mileage ahead of the elections, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Sunday decided to organise a Statewide human chain on Tuesday over the demand for special category status (SCS) for the State.
The ruling party has intensified the movement against Central neglect on the issue in the wake of Union Minister of State for Planning Rajiv Shulka’s statement in Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the State did not qualify for grant of the status based on an integrated consideration of the existing criteria.Peeved over the statement, the BJD MlAs on Friday met the Governor after forcing an adjournment of the Assembly proceedings for the day and through a memorandum to the Union Government demanded immediate revision of the criteria for determining backwardness of States and declaring Odisha as a special category State.
Deputy Government Chief Whip Sanjaya Das Burma slammed the Union Government for the delay in upward revision of mining royalty for the mineral rich States, including Odisha. He said that a motion should be passed in the House condemning the UPA Government for its dilatory tactics.Das Burma said that due to the delay in revision, Odisha had been sustaining a loss of Rs 5 crore every day. “The State has so far sustained a huge loss to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore due to non-revision of mineral royalty,” he said.
Stating that the revision of mineral royalty was normally being done in every three years and the revision was last done in August, 2009, Das Burma said that the upward revision of royalty was due since August, 2012. Despite the approval of Finance Ministry and Panning Commission, the Union Government was sitting over the issue there by depriving the mineral rich States their rightful dues, he said.