Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik tells officials to ensure balance funds are received from the Centre over next one month
New Delhi: Noting that the current financial year is left with only two months, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Monday instructed officials to ensure that the remaining central fund is released.
After a meeting at Odisha Bhawan here to review the status of release of central funds, the CM told media that the state is yet to receive over `6,400 crore from the Centre.
“Hardly two months are left for this financial year to end, but about `6,400 crore is yet to be released by the Centre. Over `1,000 crore under housing, over `375 crore under health, more than `400 crore under MGNREGA and over `650 crore under agriculture are yet to be released by the Centre,” Patnaik said.
The Chief Minister also said that the state government spends more than `3,000 crore on drinking water from the state budget. The Centre has allocated a meager `180 crore, out of which they have released just about `80 crore. Similarly, under Smart City Poverty Alleviation, out of `200 crore, the state has received just `6 crore till date. “I have deputed various officers from Odisha Bhawan to follow up with the concerned ministries to ensure release of maximum amount,” the Chief Minister said. Notably, the Chief Minister held meetings with Chief Resident Commissioner (CRC) Sunil Bhargava and other officials of Resident Commissioner at Odisha Bhawan here. Odisha Bhawan officials said the Chief Resident Commissioner apprised Patnaik that a team of ten officers has been formed to effectively liaise with the concerned departments and facilitate release of the pending central funds to the state.
The CRC assured that all efforts will be made in next one month to secure maximum release by February end, 2019.