Orissa has enough fund to carry out Naveen's promises- Ghadei

Bhubaneswar, Sep 22 (UNI) Orissa Finance Minister P C Ghadei today clarified that the state government has enough fund to carry out announcements made by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for special Biju KBK Plan, the Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana and flood assistance.

Dismissing the Leader of Opposition in Orissa Assembly J B Pattnaik's remark that the announcements were a ''political gimmick'' aimed at the coming Panchayat elections in the state, Mr Ghadei said there would be no dearth of funds to implement the programmes, announced by the Chief Minister.

Mr Naveen Patnaik while coming down heavily on the UPA government for reducing the assistance under the KBK Plan, had announced a Rs 600 crore Biju KBK Plan from 2007-2008 and another Rs 600 crore under the Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana besides Rs 350 crore flood assistance.

The Congress leader at a press conference here yesterday had alleged that there had been no budgetary provision for the announcement made by the Chief Minister. He also said the government had no option but to impose taxes on the people or reduce allotment in education and health sector to implement the new programmes.

Mr J B Pattanik demanded that the Chief Minister must clarify from where he would arrange the fund to fulfill his promises to the people when the Orissa government was finding it difficult to meet even the matching share money to implement the centrally sponsored scheme in the state.

The Finance Minister said the Rs 350 crore flood assistance announced by the Chief Minister would be availed from the Calamity Relief Fund having a deposit of over Rs 500 crore till date.

Similarly the fund for the Biju KBK Plan and Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana would be made available from the budget as the revenue receipt had gone up by over Rs 1000 crore during 2005-2006 and the government was expecting a higher revenue receipt during 2006-2007.

Mr Ghadei accused the Leader of Opposition of diverting the attention of the people on the UPA government's ''apathetic'' attitude towards Orissa by furnishing ''misleading'' information.

He claimed that the revenue deficit during the Congress regime which stood at Rs 2574.19 crore during 1999-2000 had been reduced to Rs 522.30 crore by the present BJD-BJP government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in 2004-2005.

In fact during 2005-2006, there had been a revenue surplus of Rs 481.19 crore, Mr Ghadei said adding that the state during the last two years had not availed any wage means advance and overdraft whereas during the Congress regime, the government had availed wage and means and overdraft for more than 250 days every year.

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