Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday asked BJD MPs to raise critically important questions concerning the state's interests during the upcoming monsoon session of the Parliament.
Convening a virtual meeting with MPs of both Houses, Patnaik said, "We are neglected in matters of railways, banking, payment of coal royalty and clean energy cess, and the construction of the Coastal Highway."
Patnaik informed the MPs that during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on May 30, he had discussed several issues concerning Odisha's interest and sought Centre's support on those. "I would impress upon all of you to take up the pending issues with the ministries concerned so that these are sorted out in a time-bound manner," he said.
Patnaik told the lawmakers that he has written to Modi about taking 5 lakh metric tonnes of surplus parboiled rice from the state for the kharif marketing season, withdrawal of export duty on iron ore pellets below 58 per cent grade, sanctioning 1.84 lakh houses to families affected by Cyclone Fani among other issues. "All these issues need to be pursued with the Centre," Patnaik told the lawmakers.
He said issues such as pending railway projects, implementation of Swaminathan Committee recommendations on MSP for paddy, 33 per cent reservation for women in both Parliament and Assembly, the constitution of Odisha Legislative Council and inclusion of Ho language in the eighth schedule of the Constitution need to be followed up.
Patnaik said "daughter of Odisha" Droupadi Murmu is running for the highest office in the country, which is a matter of great pride for the state. "On the behalf of the people of Odisha and BJD, we need to extend our full support to her candidature," Patnaik said. BJD had 12 members in Lok Sabha and 9 MPs in Rajya Sabha.
-With PTI Input
