Balasore: Union Petroleum, Oil and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan exhorted his party workers to work harder for building a new Odisha. He said this while addressing a ‘Jan Paramarsa’ rally at Bhograi Thana Chhak in Balasore here Friday.
Taking a dig at the state government, he said,“ Education, healthcare and industrial sectors are in a shambles in the state while the present dispensation is neck deep in corruption, PC and nepotism. For lack of job opportunities, thousands of youths from the state migrate to other states to eke out their living from daily wagging every day.”
Alluding to recent alleged case of sexual exploitation of minor girls and religious conversion at a shelter home in Dhenkanal, the Union minister said that such incidents have been a national shame for Odisha.
“Farmers are deprived of right price for their produce, government support. Incidents like farmers committing suicide over debt burden is on the rise and such cases are unfortunate,” Pradhan observed, referring to chit fund and mining scams, irregularities in pulses (dal) purchase and saplings.
The Union minister asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been implementing a plethora of welfare schemes for the people. He called upon his party workers to realize the dream of a new Odisha as envisioned by the Prime Minister.
Bhograi is known for betel, paddy, fish and beaches, but it has been neglected. The West Bengal government has boosted tourism of Digha beach with massive development while the tourism sector in Bhograi has been given a short shrift, he noted.
“There have been irregularities in Swacch Bharat, toilet construction, PMAY and Soubhagya Yojana. Benefits of such schemes do not go to the beneficiaries without bribe. Henceforward, people will not keep quiet and will fight for their rights.
Ahead of the rally, he had visited Jhadeswar Shiv temple and Hanuman Temple at Gobardhanpur village.
Among others present at the rally were former Nilagiri MLA Pratap Sadangi, Remuna MLA Gobinda Chandra Das, other party leaders like Madan Mohan Datt, Shobhana Mohanty and Thakur Ranjit Das.
PNN