With the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) finding that the Odisha government was not able to use more than ₹842 crore of central funds for the irrigation sector between 2014 and 2020, the Opposition Congress and BJP demanded action against officials responsible for such an "inefficiency".
Senior Congress leader and MLA Suresh Routray said the government must punish those who were responsible for the "non-utilisation of funds and delay in project completion".