Odisha least developed state of India

The Raghuram Rajan committee has raised serious questions on the development of the state during the last decade by placing Odisha at the top of the list of the ‘least developed’ states thereby putting the BJD Government in an embarrassing situation.

Much to the embarrassment, the committee report has put Odisha on the top of the list of ‘least developed’ state with an underdevelopment/need index of 0.798.

Terming the report as “unfortunate”, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the state would continue its fight for the Special Category Status.

“Unfortunately, we find that while Odisha has been categorised as a least developed state, Special Category Status has not been accorded to us,” Patnaik told reporters while reacting over the Raghuram Rajan panel.

Stating that the state has been demanding special category status for the last 40 years, Patnaik said the UPA government and the Congress leaders gave the impression that the Raghuram Rajan Committee would address this issue.

Odisha’s demand for special category status included central allocation on 90:10 basis and tax exemption for new investment, Patnaik said.

“Therefore, we’ill continue our fight for this just cause,” Patnaik said.

The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) was quick to take advantage of the report in criticising the state government for Odisha’s backwardness despite claims to the contrary. The report has established that inspite of heavy inflow of central funds, Odisha remains most underdeveloped because of the incompetence of the State Government.

Countering the Congress allegations, Finance Minister Prasanna Acharya said that the per capita income of the state has grown, but still it is less than the national average. Odisha has developed during the last 10 years, but the state needs more funds to develop further, he said.