Patnaik woos tribals, BJP reminds of unfulfilled promises to Mayurbhanj people

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday visited Mayurbhanj, the home district of President Droupadi Murmu, for and hour, inaugurated Subarnarekha and Deo irrigation projects and wooed tribals.

Patnaik’s whistle stop visit to Mayurbhanj is considered to be BJD’s strategy to counter BJP’s alleged attempt to take advantage from Murmu’s election to the highest constitutional post.

The saffron party has been allegedly making all out efforts to take mileage from the presidential election and create an impression among the people of the state that Murmu, regarded as the 'daughter of the soil', could occupy the highest post due to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJD too had fully backed Murmu.

At the inauguration Patnaik said several welfare schemes of the BJD government have been successful due to proper coordination with the tribal people.

''The state could make progress through education and employment schemes for the tribals,” Patnaik said at the meeting.

Patnaik in his speech said that tribal children have been successful in earning their name due to their talent, which has been made possible due to the state government's different schemes for education, livelihood and skill development.

He said the state government '5T' initiative has made it possible for students in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district to avail world class education in their village schools. “This change has come not just for the students alone, but for the district and the state as a whole,” Patnaik said.

Under the state government’s '5T' initiative, the schools are reformed and facility of smart class rooms, library, laboratory, computer education and play ground are availed even by students in remote villages of the state. Extolling the art, culture and tribal tradition of Mayurbhanj district, Patnaik said “I pay my respects to the land of Pandit Raghunath Murmu. This rich tradition has created a special identity for Mayurbhanj in the country. The daughter of the soil, Droupadi Murmu has further enriched the rich cultural heritage of Mayurbhanj. We are all proud for her”.

He also called upon the people to cooperate for the overall development of the district.

Mayurbhanj is considered a strong hold of BJP from where the saffron candidates had won in six of the nine assembly seats in the district apart from the Lok Sabha seat. However, the political equation changed during the rural poll when the people voted in favour of BJD and elected 53 of the district’s 56 zilla parishad seats.

Patnaik's short visit to Mayurbhanj during the day drew flak from its BJP unit president Kandra Soren who alleged that the BJD government continues to neglect the tribal dominated areas in the district by not fulfilling promises made by it during the elections. Soren, in a statement claimed that during the civic election in 2009 Patnaik had assured the people of Baripada town that a ring road will be constructed besides an embankment on Budhabalanga river that passed through it. “But the promise has not been fulfilled yet and people suffer when there is flood,” he said. Patnaik had also promised that the state government will take over the privately run Mayurbhanj Ayurvedic College and Mayurbhanj Homoeopathic Medical College. “But no step has been taken in respect of the two important institutions so far and are now closed''. This was depriving the backward and tribal students of Mayurbhanj to qualify as Ayush doctors, he said. The BJP leader also claimed that Patnaik has so far inaugurated the Subarnarekha irrigation project thrice. The foundation stone of the inter-state Subarnarekha project was laid by erstwhile chief minister J B Patnaik in 1984 but it is yet to be fully completed. The ruling BJD rejected BJP’s allegations and said that Subarnarekha irrigation project is a major one and its parts are being inaugurated after they are completed. Therefore, it is wrong to say that Patnaik inaugurated the same project thrice. On the issue of the ring road and embankment, Baripada municipality chairperson Krushnananda Mohanty said that the state government has already completed survey work and assessment is being made on the possible loss of the displaced people. The project will be completed in due course of time, he said. He said that the government will certainly take up the Ayurvedic and Homeopathy college issue at the appropriate time.