By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, July 31, 2022: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik once again reiterated his special status demand for Odisha during the meeting with NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Kumar Bery Member Dr. Vinod K. Paul.

Naveen said that the People of Odisha are facing lots of problems due to natural calamities like floods, cyclones, and droughts every year. As a result, the infrastructure in most of the districts is being damaged and government has to spend a huge amount on rehabilitation and restoration work.

The state is facing heavy financial losses due to natural calamities. The development of the state is being hampered due to frequent natural calamities. Naveen has argued that the Special Catagory status is necessary as the state needs infrastructure to tackle Disaster. Not only that, Odisha is being neglected in terms of railways and telecom services. Telecommunication is still not possible in some areas.

“The state is facing lots of problems due to natural calamities like floods, cyclones, and droughts every year. Infrastructure in most of the districts is being damaged. The development is being hampered due to this. Concern demands Special category status. This is a very important and long stand demand”, he said.

Assam along with the North Eastern states of Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh has got Special Catagory status. But the center is repeatedly rejecting the demands of states like Odisha.

The ruling BJD said that the party will intensify the demand for special status to the state while BJP said It should be raised in the proper forum. Congress criticized both BJD and BJP saying that both BJJ-BJP has merged. That’s why the center is neglecting the state.

The Special Category Status system was first introduced in the country in 1969. The First 3 states Jammu Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, and Assam got special status. A total of 11 states have received this status in the last 50 years.

Odisha, which is economically and infrastructurally backward, has been presenting its demands in various forums including Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha, but the Center has not taken it into consideration. 7th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog to be held on 7th August 2022 at New Delhi, which will be chaired by Prime Minister.