BALANGIR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday criticised the State Government for poor utilisation of Central assistance and funds collected under District Mineral Foundation (DMF) in districts affected by mining activities.

“With regrets, I have to say that bulk of `4,000 crore collected under DMF is lying unspent when people of the mining affected areas badly need development,” Modi said while addressing a huge public meeting here.

He said Odisha got more than `4000 crore due to the decision of  the Centre to create District Mineral Fund. Unfortunately, the State Government has not been able to utilise the fund for the welfare of the tribals.

“Money is there, so also the need of the people. But the State Government is sleeping,” he said and wondered what the Government was doing here.

“When I talk about Sabka Saath Sabka Bikas, our special focus is on development of the tribals. However, the State Government has completely ignored them,” Modi said. Reiterating his commitment to rapid growth of Odisha under Purvodaya (focus East) policy, the Prime Minister said his Government had provided `20,000 crore alone for the railway sector which is five times of what the State received from the previous UPA Government.

Launching projects worth `1500 crore in infrastructure, connectivity, education, culture and tourism sectors during his third visit to the State within three weeks, the Prime Minister said these projects will not only spur the growth of Odisha but also of eastern India under Purvodaya mission.

Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, the Prime Minister said, “Pro-poor decisions of  the NDA Government has enraged the people who used to loot public money. Since they have been deprived of the opportunity of plundering public money, they have ganged up and are conspiring to remove me.”
Asserting that his Government will continue to fight against corruption, Modi said around six crore bogus ration cards, gas connections and scholarships have been cancelled in the country due to various measures taken by the Government. This number is more than the population of Odisha.

“We saved around `90,000 crore by plugging these leakages. All the ration cards have been digitised and around 80 per cent of ration cards linked to Aadhaar,” he added.

The Prime Minister paid rich tributes to Doordarshan News cameraman Achyutananda Sahu who was killed in Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh while covering news. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP Legislature party leader and Patnagarh MLA Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo and State president of the party Basant Panda were also present.