New Delhi, April 28 (ANI): Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has reportedly told a delegation of Odisha Congress members that there has been no discrimination in the allocation of funds to the state from the Central Government.
The Odisha Congress team had called on Prime Minister Singh on Saturday to seek a financial package for the state, and had also informed him that central government funds allocated to the state was being misused.
The delegation had also called on Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday to ask him to order an inquiry in the matter.
On Friday, Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal party led a a peaceful "hartal" through out the state against the Centre's continuous negligence.
This was done on the instructions of state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
However, power, water supply, health service, examinations in schools and colleges were kept out of the purview of the "hartal"
The irate protestors also lashed out at the Centre for not paying heed to the demands made by the Odisha Government, and raised slogans against UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Manmohan Singh-led Central Government.
All the shops in the city were closed.
Odisha MLA Ashok Chandra Panda lashed out at the ruling Congress party and warned the UPA Government to fulfill the demands of people.
"Our legitimate demand, legitimate right have been neglected by the Congress Government at Centre. So, this strike is protest by people of Odisha and by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has stood for the cause of Odisha and for the poor people of Odisha. So, we are protesting," said Panda.
"And this is a warning signal to the UPA Government that you must make the commitment to people of Odisha and acknowledge the legitimate demand of Odisha for according a special status to the state," he added.
Biju Janata Dal activists also raised this issue in the national capital. The activists staged a protest outside the Parliament here and demanded the Centre to give a special category status to Odisha.
BJD lawmaker Bhartruhari Mahtab said that the amounted allotted by Central Government Odisha was insufficient.
"We have demanded to declare Odisha as a special category state. The amount that has been allotted very recently declared is a pittance. They have only allotted 250 crore rupees per annum for another four years, which is not sufficient and that also goes against the interest of development of Odisha," he said. (ANI)
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