Naveen requires an exclusive focus status to Odisha at Niti Aayog meeting

Bhubaneswar 7 August : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, on Sunday, requested a special focus status to Odisha from the Union government at the Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog.

"Its essential to have a resilient infrastructure to shield the state as well as its residents from the unpredictable forces of the natural world," he said.He asked the Central government to declare Odisha an exclusive focus state and allocate funds to disaster-proofing.

In a statement, he said that Odisha has been historically omitted in the three areas in the Central list of subjects -- railways, telecoms and banking the Chief Minister claimed Odisha has the lowest concentration in all of these vital infrastructures "So the Central government should put a an exclusive focus to Odisha," he demanded.The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY) has some issues with its implementation in the field due to of which true farmers are denied in certain cases.

Patnaik called on Niti Aayog to look into this issue and suggest ways to safeguard the interests of farmers "As to the housing scheme in rural areas, PMAY has seen the largest of our tribal as well as KBK districts are exempted from the new allocations.I would ask the Central government to fix this issue and provide housing," he stated.

Patnaik suggested to the Centre to bring about a transformation in ASI and amend in the AMSAR act to bring Indias system on par with international benchmarks.This will be extremely helpful in safeguarding heritage sites like our Konark.Konark, he said.

The Chief Minister also felicitated all athletes who are making their country proud in commonwealth games.