Union Budget: Patnaik criticises reduction in allocation for MGNREGS, food subsidy

Patnaik attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its repeated demands of introducing the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in Odisha

Published on: Feb 2, 2023, 12:53:21 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has criticised the reduction in the allocation in Union Budget for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and food subsidy, saying it will hit the poor as well as farmers.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik. (Twitter)

Food and fertiliser subsidies and MGNREGS spending have been brought down. The cumulative reduction in total subsidy and MGNREGS allocation between 2022-23 and 2023-24 is ₹1.76 lakh crore.

Patnaik attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its repeated demands of introducing the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in Odisha.

“The budget provision for Ayushman Bharat... is ₹7200 crores for the entire country and Odisha spends almost about ₹2400 crores on Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana in private facilities alone. If we include government facilities, it would be around ₹6000 crores annually under Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana,” he said on Wednesday.

He called health an important priority for Odisha. “...we believe in investing and in sincere efforts. I expect that the BJP leaders in Odisha will stop hoodwinking the people of Odisha in the name of Ayushman Bharat.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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