Bhubaneswar: Odisha has the potential to become a leading economic power of the country. However, the state is lagging behind, chairman of the 15th Finance Commission NK Singh said here Monday.
After arriving at the Biju Patnaik International Airport, Singh, who heads a team of the Fifteenth Finance Commission, said “Odisha has huge potentials in terms of becoming the driver and leader of India’s economic development process. It has lagged behind no doubt. We’ll try and see how the issues can be best addressed and what the role Finance Commission can play in this regard.”
“We have received the memorandum of the state government which is very wide-ranging and we’ll certainly have further discussion on this,” he pointed out.
Commenting on farm loan waiver, Singh said, “While some states have recently announced waiving farm loan, Odisha government has the discretion to take a call on this issue.
He also made it clear that the Commission is not going to discuss farm loan waivers or other supports.
The Commission chief further said discussions will be held for the economic development of the state during its (the Commission’s) visit to the state.
Singh added that the Commission will hold detailed meetings with the Chief Minister and the state government officers regarding state’s finances and other issues.
The Commission will hold detailed meetings with the representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of the state, the representatives of trade bodies, industry associations and with representatives of various political parties.
The Commission is also scheduled to undertake field visits to take stock of the state government’s poverty eradication programme Odisha Livelihood Mission (OLM), an autonomous society under the aegis of the state government.
The Commission would hold discussion with the Chief Minister and Ministers Wednesday. The state government will submit a memorandum to the Commission.
The Commission will leave for Puri and from there they will visit Chilika (Nalabana) Thursday.
While the commission Chairman will leave Odisha Wednesday, the other members of the team will leave January 11.
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