From last 5 years, bifurcated Andhra Pradesh is fighting with centre to gain the special category status to have a speedy development and race like rest of the states in the nation. And demand for ‘special status’ already exists in states like Bihar, Uttarakhand, Odisha and some states of North India.
But, the kind of damage done by Cyclone Fani in the recent past has made Odisha CM to press for the special status demand again. The CM of state Naveen Patnaik sought an assistance from centre in view of continuous cyclone storms every year- Phailin, HudHud, Thitli and Fani now. The chief of BJD appeals centre to consider plight of Odisha, as these cyclones have heavily damaged state.
According to him, the relief assistance offered by centre is of very little use and those funds are not fully sufficient to bring state back into normalcy. In the end, it is state govt financing relief work every time and it is burning a big hole to state’s budget. Eventually, the state cannot focus on delivering government schemes promised to the people.
PM’s Modi announced 1000 Cr for relief work of Cyclone Fani, but these funds are insufficient for restoration work, according to Patnaik who also said he would reach out to world bank for further financial aid.
Highlighting that an insurance firm estimated the loss by Cyclone Fani could be at Rs 3500 Cr, Odisha CM demanded centre to announce the special category status tag to their state. With an existing and intense demand from AP already, it remains to be seen how this request will be taken up by the centre. If Naveen Patnaik becomes part of the new government in Delhi, if would further make chances of AP special status demand meagre.