High time country gets out of election mode: Patnaik at Niti Aayog meeting

Odisha Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik Saturday hit out at politicisation of every action ofan elected government and all crimes, saying it is high timethat the country gets out of election mode and allows electedgovernments to function.

The chief minister said this while virtually attendingNiti Aayog's Governing Council meeting.

''Every crime is being politicised, every action of anelected government is being viewed from a political angle.

This kind of an atmosphere is one of the biggest threats tothe pace of development and peace in the country.

''It is high time the country gets out of thiselection mode and allows elected governments to function,''Patnaik said.

Opposition parties BJP and the Congress reactedsharply to Patnaik's views and said, he needs to look himselfin the mirror to find out whether he himself had commited suchacts.

Noting that the hallmark of a mature democracy is thatonce elected, governments are meant to work for people beyondthe party line, the chief minister said, ''It is time we as acountry have serious introspection on whether we are able todo the same''.

Unified response and inclusive approach should beadopted for all major challenges facing the country in thetrue spirit of cooperative federalism, the Odisha CM said.

''COVID-19 was a challenge for the world and Indiashowed with its unified response what is possible. Europeancountries and the United States could not put up a unifiedfront.

''History will remember us on what our response hasbeen on critical issues affecting our people and the country,raising above political considerations,'' he said.

Raising the issue of empowerment of women, Patnaiksaid, national parties had promised women's reservation in theLok Sabha and state assemblies.

''History will not forgive us if we renege on thiscommitment. This calls for a serious deliberation and takingit forward,'' he said.

If the country has to really move forward, regionswhich are neglected and populations that are vulnerable haveto be taken along, Patnaik said.

''Committed action is needed for that. The NITI Aayoghas a major role to play in this. Areas like malnutrition,connectivity, sex ratio imbalances need focus,'' the chiefminister said.

Pointing out that lakhs of our young people appearfor national level exams every year the UPSC exam, NEET,JEE etc, he said, a critical look is required to re-evaluatethe examination pattern for these prestigious and highlysought-after exams.

''Should not we have exams that focus on equality andattracting merit as opposed to exam patterns that are heavilydependent on highly paid coaching classes? ''This will truly eliminate merit in the long run anddeny justice to lakhs of our children who live in rural areasand do not have physical or economic access to coachingclasses. NITI Aayog should look into this very serious issue,''the chief minister said.

Suggesting that NITI Aayog should develop into arepository of innovations drawn from the country and acrossthe world and help replicate it, Patnaik said, futuristictechnologies, new world economy, solutions for climate change,inclusive governance models are some areas that can be focusedon.

The Odisha Chief Minister also pointed out that manycritical issues are being raised in the NITI Aayogdeliberations and excellent suggestions are being made.

''It would be appropriate for NITI Aayog to share anaction taken report with everyone concerned. This will makeour deliberations more meaningful and action-oriented,'' hesaid.

Mentioning that a number of proposals of differentstates relating to inclusion of tribal communities in the STlist have been pending from 1978 onwards, Patnaik said, manyof them are subsets on phonetic variations of the names ofexisting ST communities.

''It is unjust to keep these pending for years withouta decision,'' the chief minister said.

Patnaik also spoke on the ''just demands'' of thecoastal state relating to railways, telecom, banking,reduction in central fund, inclusion of some of the importantlanguages of Odisha in the Eighth schedule of theConstitution.

BJP stalwart and Leader of Opposition P K Naik said,''No political party has the agenda to politicise all crimes.

If there is no action against people involved in heinouscrimes and the government shields the culprits, willopposition parties remain silent? ''If opposition parties raise voice against non-actionin crimes and this is dubbed as politicising crime, then Iam sorry. It is unfortunate that a person holding such aresponsible post makes this kind of statement at the NITIAayog meeting.'' Asking the state government to make self introspectionwhether it spends money from public exchequer for thepolitical gain of the ruling BJD, Naik said, ''Let him(Patnaik) look in the mirror to find whether he made suchmistakes''.

Dubbing the chief minister's statement as an ''eyewash'',Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha said, ''He(Patnaik) remained silent all along after the Modi governmentwas elected to power in 2014. Thanks that he opened up now''.

PTI AAMMM MM

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)