New Delhi, April 27 (IANS) Expressing concern over the misuse of central funds in Odisha, a delegation led by state Congress president Niranjan Patnaik met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek a need-based financial package for the state, party leaders said here Saturday.
“The prime minister has said that there is no discrimination whatsoever with Odisha as is being claimed by the state government, and under the revised guidelines of backwardness, the state would get its due share,” Patnaik said.
The delegation had met Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Friday and urged him to “institute a high-level inquiry” into misuse of central funds.
According to Patnaik, the per capita income of Odisha is almost half of the national per capita level and one-fifth of the per capita income of New Delhi.