BJD MP Demands ‘Special Focus State’ Status for Odisha

Bhubaneswar: BJD MP Dr. Sasmit Patra on Wednesday demanded ‘Special Focus State’ status for Odisha as the State has been facing challenges of natural disasters frequently.

Rising the issue in the Rajya Sabha during the Zero Hour, the BJD MP said that Odisha has always been coming to the encounter of natural disasters. The State has faced about 99 cyclones in the last 100 years – whether it was Fani, Hudhud or Super Cyclone of 1999. There are many such disasters that have caused the damages to the State – to the infrastructure and livestock. It takes several years to compensate the damages. That’s why Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has repeatedly requested the States like Odisha, which face natural disasters, are entitled to get Special Focus State status, the BJD MP said.

Explaining about Special Focus State’ Status, Dr. Patra said that the Centre and State sharing pattern for any government programme is 60:40 or 50:50. As Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has requested, when a natural disaster strikes, this sharing pattern should be changed to 90:10 by the Centre and State instead of sharing pattern of 60:40 for a period of three years, which is provided for special category state.

He further said that the Government (Centre) does not want to give Special Category State. Now it has clarified. But when it comes to Special Focus State, there is a time limit for only 3 years. The sharing pattern for the three years should be made the ratio of 90:10 to enable the state to recover from the losses of disaster.

The BJD MP urged the Centre to accord ‘Special Focus State’ Status for Odisha.