Bhubaneswar, July 04: Congress leader Navajyoti Patnaik has welcomed Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s decision to form a task force for the establishment of the North Odisha Development Council (NODC).
By establishing both North Odisha Development Council and South Odisha Development Council, similar to the Western Odisha Development Council, balanced development across the state can be ensured, accelerating the progress of the backward areas, he said.
North Odisha, rich in mines and other resources, significantly contributes to the state exchequer but remains underdeveloped. The residents of Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Keonjhar districts lack basic facilities such as quality healthcare, education, transportation, drinking water, and electricity services. The absence of industrialization, agriculture and food processing industries, and tourism infrastructure has forced local youth to migrate in search of employment. The formation of the North Odisha Development Council is a crucial step towards mitigating these issues, he said.
For the development of the state's backward areas, the Western Odisha Development Council was established on November 11, 1998, during the Congress rule. There has been a continuous demand to form the North Odisha Development Council to cover the districts of Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Keonjhar.
To ensure the effective implementation and functioning of the NODC, Navajyoti Patnaik proposes four suggestions: Establishment of the headquarters of the council in Balasore for administrative convenience, setting up a corpus fund of Rs 10,000 crore, allocating an annual expenditure of Rs 3,000 crore for development work, and passing the bill for the North Odisha Development Council in the upcoming assembly session.
Additionally, Patnaik demanded to ensure that at least 20 per cent of the total state budget expenditure is allocated for the overall development of North Odisha.
