Odisha Finance Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha on Friday pegged the supplementary budget at ₹.28,200 crore for 2023-24, allocating resources for ‘vote-catching’ projects.
The State government has made provision of ₹1,302 crore for Ama Odisha, Nabin Odisha (AONO), under which sarpanches can spend ₹50 lakh each annually. The AONO is dubbed as a populist project. Opposition political parties have been criticising the scheme, saying the Naveen Patnaik government is parking the fund in the gram panchayats just before the upcoming Assembly election.
Similarly, the Location Accessible Multi-modal Initiative (LACCMI) scheme, which seeks to strengthen the public transportation system, has received ₹556 crore. Women self-help groups will be given priority in implementation of the project.
