TNI Bureau: While appreciating Prime Minister’s thrust on millet in the Union Budget, as ‘Odisha Millet Mission’ remains at the forefront in this initiative in the country, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik expressed concerns over drastic reduction of funds for MGNREGS as well as food security budget, which he believes will hit the poor people.
The CM also acknowledged the focus on new world technologies like artificial intelligence, Internet of Things etc and welcomed the focus on primitive tribal groups.
However, Naveen took a critical view of budgetary provisions for MGNREGS and National Food Security, saying the reduction won’t augur well for the poor and needy. “There has been a decrease or no growth in health and education sectors”, he said.
Naveen took a dig at Odisha BJP with a comparison between Ayushman Bharat and BSKY and asked them not to mislead people of Odisha on this issue anymore. Naveen sought to prove a point that BSKY remains a much better and robust scheme than the Ayushman Bharat.
CM Naveen Patnaik’s Budget Reaction:
➡️ The budget has some good aspects which needs to be appreciated and there are some concerns which needs to be looked into and addressed.
➡️ Good steps are, increased capital investment, support to drinking water initiatives and increasing rural housing. These will accelerate growth as well as have social impact in rural areas.
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➡️ I also welcome the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s thrust on millets. ‘Odisha Millet Mission’ is a pioneering initiatives in the country and I am happy that millets have been given importance in the Budget.
➡️ The focus on new world technologies like artificial intelligence, Internet of Things etc. is appreciable. These are some of the good aspects of the Budget. The focus on primitive tribal groups is a welcome step.
➡️ I have concerns regarding the drastic reduction of funds for MGNREGS. This will hit the poor people. The reduction in food security budget alongwith reduction in procurement will hit the poor people as well as farmers. About 80 thousand crores was spent on procurement in 2021-22 while only about 60 thousand crores is kept in this budget. This will cause serious problems in selling crops at Minimum Support Price.
➡️ While in 2021-22 an amount of Rupees 2 lakh crores was spent under National Food Security, in this budget only 1.37 lakh crore is kept for this purpose.
➡️ There has been a decrease or no growth in health and education sectors.
➡️ Now to the point which Odisha BJP always harps on. The budget provision for Ayushman Bharat ‘PMJAY’ is Rupees 7 thousand 2 hundred crores for the entire country and Odisha spends almost about Rupees2 thousand 4 hundred crores on BSKY in private facilities alone. If we include Government facilities it would be around Rupees 6 thousand crores annually under Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana. Health is an important priority for our State and we believe in investing and in sincere efforts.
➡️ ମୁଁ ଆଶା ରଖିବି ଯେ ଓଡିଶା ରାଜ୍ୟ ବିଜେପିର ନେତୃବୃନ୍ଦ ଆୟୁଷ୍ମାନ ଭାରତ ଯୋଜନା ନେଇ ଓଡିଶାବାସୀଙ୍କୁ ଭୁଆଁ ବୁଲାଇବା ବନ୍ଦ କରିବେ ।
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