Give us special status, not doles: Naveen

BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday went to the Planning Commission again with the usual demand in his kitty __ a special category status for Orissa to sustain investment and development. For years, his Government has been explaining why Orissa is a fit case for this status, but the Centre has not responded positively. Naveen’s message was clear: Give us special status and adequate minerals royalty, not doles.  On Monday, at the meeting of five eastern States convened by the commission in Patna to finalise the approach to the Twelfth Five Year Plan, Naveen made a strong argument. The State, he pointed out, favours a development approach which encourages less developed States to grow faster than the national average over a long period of time. The demand for special category was originally in the BJD election manifesto but was dropped when it did not find favour with the NDA at the Centre of which the BJD was a partner then. Naveen wanted the Revised Long Term Action Plan (RLTAP) to run for 10 more years beyond the Eleventh Plan with increased funding in order to bring the KBK on a par with other regions of the State. He also demanded extension of the backward district initiative to more districts.  Naveen reiterated the demand for revision of the rates of royalty on coal and other minerals in a timely manner and compensation to the mineral-bearing states for revenue losses due to late revision, as recommended by the Thirteenth Finance Commission.  The Chief Minister said the challenge before the 12th plan is to enhance the economy’s capacity for growth and mobilise adequate resources from various sources. The economy of Orissa has historically grown at a very slow pace except in the last decade when it achieved a real average growth rate of more than 9 per cent.  Orissa is making all possible efforts to raise resources needed for public investment to maintain the growth momentum. But there would still be a substantial gap between funds that can be mobilised by the State and the level of investment required. To bridge this gap, Naveen maintained, there has to be a national framework by which larger resources can flow to the States.Meanwhile, emphasising that Bihar lacked a port for shipment of goods to and from the State, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Bihar was interested in setting up a designated port at Paradip.