The demand for Special Category State status for Odisha was first voiced in 1979. It has been reiterated many times since: Both the 10th and the 11th Odisha legislative Assemblies adopted unanimous resolutions on the subject.
The demand has been intensified since the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) came to power under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik in 2000. Naveen Patnaik, president of BJD, has written several letters to the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission on the subject. The State legislative Assembly also passed a unanimous resolution, yet again, urging the Central Government to declare Odisha as a Special Category State on April 4, 2013. All local bodies including Panchayats, Zilla Parishads, Municipalities and NACs passed similar resolutions. A State-wide signature campaign also collected more than one crore signatures to urge the Centre to accede to the State’s demand.
1) On several occasions, the State Assembly has passed unanimous resolutions, which means that all parties in the State are together on the issue.
2) Odisha should qualify as a Special Category State even under the current criteria. However, the Centre has been engaging in discrimination and playing politics.
3) Several States such as Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have per capita incomes higher than Odisha (and even the national average), and yet have been accorded Special Category status.
4) Other examples of discrimination include the low allocation to Odisha in the Railway Budget and the low rates of royalty on minerals that prevent Odisha from raising revenue from mining activities in the State.
5) Odisha has a large tribal population and a hilly terrain and low levels of infrastructure such as railways.
6) The large poor population restricts the State’s ability to raise revenue and affects the utilisation of Centrally-sponsored schemes. Most of the schemes require the State to share some parts of the expenses, usually 25 per cent to 35 per cent. For poorer States such as Odisha, it is difficult to afford these expenses.
7) For faster development, it is important that Odisha be granted the Special State status. The BJD demands this as Odisha's genuine right.
(Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda is a senior BJD leader and lok Sabha member from Kendrapada)