Bhubaneswar, July 24: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for laying special focus on the development of the tourism sector in Odisha in Budget 2024-25 presented in the Parliament on Tuesday.

"I am thanking PM Modi and FM Sitharaman on behalf of the people of Odisha for laying special emphasis on the development of the tourism sector in Odisha and making arrangements to provide necessary financial assistance in the current budget. The tourism sector along with wildlife, marine resources and development of temples will contribute significantly to Odisha's economic development. Odisha tourism will become a centre of attraction," CM Mohan Majhi wrote on X.

Welcoming the Budget, Deputy CM Pravati Parida on Tuesday described the budget as revolutionary. She said special emphasis has been laid on the women and the tourism sector in Odisha.

On the other hand, former CM and Leader of Opposition, Naveen Patnaik termed the budget as "anti-Odisha". He alleged that Odisha and its people were completely neglected by the NDA government.

"BJP has put special category status in their manifesto as a promise to the people of Odisha. However, the promise has not been considered for Odisha. Whereas, special packages allocating crore of funds have been announced for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Along with this, the demand of Odisha for the revision of coal royalty which has been pending for years with the central government and being rejected because of which the state will lose thousands of crores of revenue every year," Patnaik said in a video message.

He further added that lots of big promises in different sectors were made to the people of Odisha by the leaders of BJP during the election campaign, especially on agriculture, MSME and industry but there is no mention of any promise being fulfilled in the budget.

Patnaik said today the most serious issue being faced by the common public is inflation, price rises and unemployment. This budget doesn't have any considerable intervention to address the two major issues.

Meanwhile, all the nine BJD MPs in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday walked out of the house when the Union Budget was being laid, protesting the "continued neglect of Odisha" in the Union Budget. (IANS)

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