Industrialisation of Odisha to be in focus: BJD

BHUBANESWAR: A day after the release of the BJD manifesto by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the party on Friday said its focus will be on strengthening the ecosystem for further economic growth of Odisha with several initiatives for accelerated industrialisation of the state.

The government will work for inclusive development taking along all sections of people. Besides mining-based industries, steps will be taken for the promotion of IT, semiconductor and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors, national spokespersons Amar Patnaik, Sasmit Patra and Rajya Sabha MP Sulata Deo said briefing mediapersons on the manifesto here.

The BJD leaders said tourism will be given importance for creation of more employment opportunities and attract tourists to the state. Environment-friendly tourism will be developed in 100 places of the state. Urbanisation will be given importance and the state government will develop 20 urban centres, Balangir, Koraput-Jeypore, Bargarh, Rayagada, Bhawanipatna, Paradip, Dhenkanal, Joda-Barbil, Keonjhar, Angul, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Paralakhemundi, Sonepur, Deogarh, Kendrapara and Nayagarh will be developed further as part of the urbanisation initiative, they added.

The party’s manifesto has announced the state government will work to further enrich Odia culture and heritage. The Centre will be requested to give classical status to Odissi song. Besides, the long-standing demand for inclusion of Ho, Mundari and Bhumij tribes in the eighth schedule of the constitution will also be pursued.

The BJD leaders said a corpus of Rs 25 crore will be created for research and development of languages of western Odisha. Sambalpur University will be developed into an educational institution of excellence. Besides, 100 old schools of the state will be declared as heritage schools. They said steps will be taken for the enrichment of Odia culture.

Kalinga Sri and Kalinga Bhusan will be conferred on eligible persons on the lines of Padma Shri and Padma Bhusan. Describing the BJD manifesto as progressive and all inclusive, the BJD spokesperson said all sections of people including farmers, women, SCs, STs, students and the poor will be benefited by its implementation.