Bhubaneswar/UNI: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said the reduction of funds for MGNREGS, food security, and procurement in the budget will hit the poor people.

In his reaction to the Union Budget 2023-24, Patnaik, however, said it has some good aspects which need to be appreciated and there are some concerns that need to be looked into and addressed.

He said increased capital investment, support for drinking water initiatives, and increasing rural housing are good steps that will accelerate growth as well as have a social impact in rural areas.

Welcoming Prime Minister’s thrust on millets, the Chief Minister said "Odisha Millet Mission’ is a pioneering initiative in the country and he was happy that millets have been given importance in the Budget.

The focus on new world technologies like artificial intelligence and the Internet are appreciable so also the focus on primitive tribal groups."

Patnaik however said he has concerns regarding the drastic reduction of funds for MGNREGS which he said would hit the poor people.

The reduction in the food security budget along with the reduction in procurement will also hit the poor people as well as farmers, he remarked.

About Rs 80,000 crores were spent on procurement in 2021-22 while only about Rs 60,000 crores are kept in this budget, the Chief Minister said, adding this will cause serious problems in selling crops at Minimum Support Price.

He said in 2021-22 an amount of Rupees 2 lakh crores was spent under National Food Security but in this budget, only 1.37 lakh crore is kept for this purpose.

This apart there has been a decrease or no growth in the health and education sectors.

The budget provision for Ayushman Bharat ‘PMJAY’ is Rs 7,200 crores for the entire country whereas Odisha, Patnaik said spends almost about 2,400 crores on Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana(BSKY) in private facilities alone.

“If we include Government facilities it would be around Rs 6000 crores annually under BKSY”, the Chief Minister said targeting the BJP leaders in Odisha who have been harping on the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat PMJY in the state.

“Health is an important priority for our State and we believe in investing and in sincere efforts’, Patnaik commented.