Odisha Channel Bureau
Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said that Odisha has made substantial improvement in the last two decades both in macroeconomic indicators and also in socio-economic indicators.
During his interaction with NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar and his team in Bhubaneswar on December 15, Patnaik expected to engage with Niti Aayog in a constructive manner in the spirit of cooperative federalism.
Stating that this platform will help in sharing innovative and emerging ideas for development, he said, “We would like to take this opportunity to present various longstanding and emergent developmental issues requiring support of NITI Aayog and Government of India.”
Hailing the NITI Aayog for its support to States in identifying priorities, sectors, and strategies for sustainable development, Patnaik said that we welcome more such consultations and collaboration with the States in course of strategy and policy formulation across sectors.
The Chief Minister said that his government’s development interventions have been successful in combating left wing extremism, mobilisation and economic empowerment of nearly 70 lakh women through Self Help Groups.
He further said that the State has its own health assurance scheme for cashless treatment in empanelled hospitals with wider coverage to reduce out of pocket health expenditure.
“We are the third largest contributor to PDS rice pool of the Country. We have pioneered a conditional cash transfer system for pregnant women and lactating mothers,” he added.
He said that the State has invested heavily for infrastructure development and has become an attractive investment destination in manufacturing and mining industries.
Focusing on State’s long term issues, Patnaik said that the State is burdened with infrastructural gaps and vulnerability to recurring natural calamities. This requires a special dispensation from the Government of India to help the State to catch up with the frontline States, he added.
The Niti Aayog Vice Chairman congratulated the Chief Minister for the increase in State’s per capita income, improvement in agriculture and mining along with managing the fiscal deficit below five percent.
Kumar also advised the State to improve its mining production from one percent to more than two percent.
He proposed the State to set up an SDG Monitoring Unit and also suggested for switching to chemical free agriculture in the State.
Stating that every state has its own priorities and specificity, Kumar said that the NITI Aayog is keen to partner with Odisha for developing a State specific development blueprint for the State.
