Naveen Expresses Mixed Reactions

Bhubaneswar: Reacting to  the Union Budget 2023,  which was presented in the  Parliament by Finance M i n i s t e r N i r m a l a Sithraman, Odisha Chief  Minister Naveen Patnaik  said the Budget has some  good as well as concerning
aspects. The good aspects need to  be appreciated while there  are some concerns which  needs to be addressed. Good steps are, increased  c a p i t a l i n v e stme n t , support to drinking water  initiatives and increasing  rural housing. These will  accelerate growth as well  as have social impact in  rural areas, Patnaik said. “I also welcome the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s  thrust on millets. ‘Odisha  Millet Mission’ is a pioneering initiative in the country and I  am happy that millets have been given importance in the  Budget.” he said. The focus on new world technologies like artificial
intelligence, Internet of things is appreciable. The focus on  primitive tribal groups is a welcome step, he reacted.
But, the reduction of funds for MGNREGS is a matter of  concern. The reduction in food security budget along with
reduction in procurement will hit the poor people as well as  farmers, Patnaik pointed out. About 80 thousand crores was spent on procurement in 2021- 22 while only about 60 thousand crores is kept in this budget.  This will cause serious problems in selling crops at  Minimum Support Price, he  rued. While in 2021-22 an amount of Rupees 2 lakh  crores was spent under National Food Security, in  this budget only 1.37 lakh  crore is kept for this purpose.
There has been a decrease  or no growth in health and  education sectors. Lambasting the BJP in Odisha, the CM said the  budget provision for A y u s h m a n B h a r a t ‘PMJAY’is Rs 7,200 crores  for the entire country while  Odisha spends almost about Rs 2,400 on BSKY in  private facilities alone “If we include Government facilities, it would be around Rs 6000 crore annually under Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana. Health is an important priority for our State and we believe in investing and in sincere efforts,” Patnaik maintained.

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