Why Special Category Status is not accorded to Odisha despite fulfilling eligibility, questions BJD

Bhubaneswar: A day after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified that there is no proposal to accord Special Category Status to Odisha, the State ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today questioned saying why Odisha is not given the Special Category Status despite fulfilling all eligibility.

Speaking to the media persons today, senior BJD MLA Shashi Bhusan Behera said that the Special Category Status is a longstanding demand of the State. While Telangana, the newest state of India, was accorded the status after it was separated from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha has been neglected despite having the eligibility.

The northern States are given the Special Category Status but the centre has a different mindset when it comes to Odisha, Behera said adding that the continuous negligence by the Centre affects the economic development of Odisha.

“The reason for the Centre’s negligence to Odisha may be possibly because there is no BJP government in the State. However, the people of the State will not accept such mentality of the NDA government at the centre. The protest will continue,” Shashi Bhusan Behera said.

It is to be noted here that the special category status was introduced in 1969 with an aim to benefit certain backward states having hilly terrains, strategic international borders and economic and infrastructural backwardness. However, the BJD led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been demanding it citing instances of being the most vulnerable state to natural calamities like cyclones and floods.