By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 12, 2016 : The Naveen Patnaik government on Saturday came in for a sharp criticism from the union minister of rural development Ram Kripal Yadav.

Mr Yadav alleged that the ruling Biju Janata Dal [BJD] government has failed to meet the deadlines of various projects under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PAY) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

After reviewing progress in various centrally sponsored schemes in Odisha, Yadav, said, “The Odisha government has failed to meet the targets even though it has sufficient funds. As many as 70,000 houses are yet to be completed under Indira Awas Yojana scheme in Odisha.”

“The government is misleading the people of the state. The government has constructed only 1.81 lakh houses under Biju Awas Yojna and the rest houses are built from the funding of the Central government,” Yadav added.

BJD spokesperson Surya Narayan Patra, however, refuted the allegations saying, “The Union ministers do not have any other options except playing the old records whenever they visit to the state. He (Yadav) is only attempting to defame the state government. He knows it very well that for assigning projects under centrally sponsored scheme the state government has to float tenders,” Patra added.