Bhubaneswar: Ruling BJD member and former Planning and Coordination Minister AU Singh Deo urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh to pass a unanimous resolution in the House urging the Centre to provide special assistance for the KBK districts.

During zero hour Singh Deo raised the issue of dillydallying attitude of the Planning Commission in sanctioning the extension of the State Government's proposal of the RLATP for the KBK districts for another eight years.

Stating that KBK districts are the poorest region in the entire country, he said the Union Government should provide special assistance under RLATP for undertaking socio-economic initiatives for the all-round development in the tribal-dominated backward area.

Singh Deo lamented that though the State Government had submitted an eight-year perspective plan for the KBK districts to the Planning Commission for 2009-10 to 2016-17 with a projected outlay of Rs 4,550 crore, the plan panel had been sitting over the proposal for the last three years.

He said the Chief Minister during the meeting to finalise the State plan for the year 2012-13 in May this year, had requested the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission for extension of the RLATP  for ten more years from this year with higher allocation. He also sought the plan panel for approval of the perspective plan. However, there was no communication so far, he said.

Highlighting the Central neglect of Odisha, Singh Deo said on the other hand, the Union Government had provided a special package of Rs 7,266 crore in 2009 to Madhya Pradesh for Bundelkhand area. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had also approved a proposal to extend Rs 1,468 crore under special plan for Bihar, keeping in view the Assembly elections, he said.

 He said as many as 25 MPs from Odisha had earlier met the Prime Minister, seeking more assistance for the State. But the Prime Minister instead had humiliated the members.