Naveen Patnaik asks BJD MPs to take up Odisha issues in Parliament

Addressing BJD MPs of both Houses, Patnaik informed the MPs that during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on May 30, he had discussed several issues concerning Odisha's interest and sought the Centre's support on those.

"In course of my meeting with the Prime Minister on May 30 in New Delhi, I have discussed several issues concerning the state's interest and sought the support of the Central Government on all the issues," Patnaik said.

"I would impress upon all of you to take up all the pending issues with the Ministries concerned so that these are sorted out in a time-bound manner," he said.

He further said that he has written to PM Modi about taking 5 lakh metric tonnes of surplus parboiled rice from the state for the Kharif marketing season, withdrawal of export duty on iron ore pellets below 58 per cent grade, sanctioning 1.84 lakh houses to families affected by Cyclone Fani among other issues.

"I have written letters to the Prime Minister on the evacuation of 5 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of surplus fortified parboiled rice from the state for the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 21-22, withdrawal of export duty below 58 per cent grade ore and pellets, sanction of 1.84 lakh PMAY (G) (Special Houses) to the cyclone Fani affected families and to migrate 5.09 lakh data from the R.H. Portal to PWL through Awaas+ and to the Union Finance Minister on exemption of DMF trust from the purview of Income Tax from 2022-23 onwards. All the above issues need to be pursued with the Union Government," the Chief Minister said.

He also said issues such as pending railway projects in the state, implementation of Swaminathan Committee recommendations on minimum support price (MSP) for paddy, 33 per cent reservation for women in both Parliament and Assembly, the constitution of Odisha Legislative Council and inclusion of "Ho" language in the eighth schedule of the Constitution need to be followed up.

"Our proposal for speeding up of pending railway projects in the state, implementation of the Swaminathan Committee recommendations on minimum support price for paddy in the interest of our farmers, 33 per cent reservation for women in both Assembly and Parliament, the constitution of Odisha Legislative Council, our demand for Special Category Status and inclusion of 'Ho' and 'Santali' language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution needs to be followed up and pursued vigorously," he said.

"We are neglected in matters of Railways, Banking, Tele density, Payment of Coal royalty and clean energy cess and the construction of Coastal Highway. All the above critically important issues concerning the interest of Odisha need to be raised in the Parliament," he added.

Later, Patnaik said "daughter of Odisha" Droupadi Murmu has been nominated for the highest office in the country, which is a matter of great pride for the state.

"The daughter of Odisha Draupadi Murmu has been nominated to the highest office of our country. It is indeed a matter of honour and pride for our state. On behalf of the people of Odisha and BJD, we need to extend our full support to her candidature in the Presidential Election to be held on July 18." (ANI)