India News | Odisha Congress Demands State Govt Set Up Regional Imbalances Inquiry Commission

Bhubaneswar, Nov 29 (PTI) The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Wednesday asked the state government to constitute a Regional Imbalances Inquiry Commission to probe the causes of disparity among regions and recommend ways to solve the various problems.

Addressing a press conference here at Congress Bhawan, OPCC Manifesto Committee chairman Panchanan Kanungo said the government had constituted a Regional Imbalances Inquiry Commission headed by Justice SK Mohanty in 2004, to study regional imbalances in the development of the state and recommend remedial measures to address the issue.

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Though the panel submitted its report in 2008, the government was yet to make it public, he said.

Kanungo claimed that regional imbalance has increased during the 23-year tenure of the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha.

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This was evident from the recent protest and outrage made by people of one region of the state, he claimed.

"The BJD government has been providing free rice to poor families. This scheme can only meet hunger and food scarcity of the people, but it cannot bring out the people from poverty. When the scheme will be withdrawn, the reality will come to limelight," he said.

So, to know the ground reality, the state government should set up another Regional Imbalances Inquiry Commission and make public its report within 40 days, the Congress leader demanded.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)