Centre ignoring special status demand

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the BJD has taken strong exception to the rejection of the demand for according special state status to Odisha, the Opposition parties are yet to take a stand on the issue.The demand for according special category status to Odisha is there for the last 30 years. However, successive central governments have ignored the demand. The issue was first raised by former chief minister Nilamani Routray in the National Development Council (NDC) meeting in February 24, 1979. Since then, successive chief ministers had been demanding the status without any result. In his missive to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on November 24 after the Centre rejected its demand again, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said Odisha has been requesting the Centre to accord special category state status since 1979 in various fora. In different meetings of the NDC, in resolutions passed in the Assembly and at the time of the finalisation of annual plans in the Planning Commission, this demand has been raised, Naveen said and added that all these efforts seems to be futile. The demand was included in the first poll manifesto of BJD in 2000. Naveen also requested the then prime minister A B Vajpayee in 2001 requesting him for his personal intervention to declare Odisha as a special category state. However, during the NDA regime at the Centre, the demand was ignored repeatedly which had sparked off a row between the BJD and the BJP, then coalition partner in the State.The Assembly had passed a motion on March 5, 1991, demanding special category status for the State when Naveen’s father Biju Patnaik was the Chief Minister. Again a resolution was unanimously passed in the Assembly on November 18, 1997. In between the issue was raised by the State Government several times.Naveen is raising the issue since 2001 at different meetings. He raised the issue in 49th and 50th NDC meetings in 2001 and 2002 besides demanding it during discussions with the Planning Commission.The State Government had submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on August 28, 2006 when he visited the State. Naveen also raised the issue in the last NDC meeting on October 22. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Raghunath Mohanty told this paper that the BJD will continue to raise the issue in coming days.