Bhubaneswar: Criticising the state government for beating its own drum after topping the list in construction of rural roads, the state Congress Monday claimed 10,166 villages in Odisha still had no road connectivity.
As per the core road network prepared in 2001 under the Prime Minister rural road construction scheme, 10,166 villages don’t have all-weather roads, claimed Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Niranjan Patnaik.
The Centre had awarded Odisha for construction of highest number of rural roads in 2017-18 under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). But still 10,166 villages remain without roads, he said.
“The BJD government led by Naveen Patnaik has failed drastically on this front in the past 18 years of its rule, but the government of India is felicitating the state. This is how their relationship is and they are supporting each other,” he said.
Patnaik said many villages in the state were located in remote areas and had no road connectivity. Pregnant women are giving birth on roadsides because ambulances cannot reach their villages. Fire service vehicles are also unable to reach the villages in times of emergency. Yet, the Congress leader said, the BJD government was announcing one scheme after another only to mislead the common man in the name of development.
The Modi government has maintained relations with Nitish Kumar in Bihar and Naveen Patnaik in Odisha for their personal and political benefit, he said, adding, “Modi government awarded Bihar government in June last year for rural road construction. In the same function Odisha was felicitated for constructing highest number of houses under Prime Minister Aawas scheme.”
Claiming only 9 per cent of the houses have been completed in the state out of the allotted numbers, Patnaik said, “Still, Odisha is awarded in the housing sector.”
Similarly, farmers in Odisha are committing suicide, but the state is getting award in agriculture production. This unholy alliance of BJD and BJP is ruining the economy and social sector of the state, he alleged.