BHUBANESWAR: The outgoing chairperson of the Western Orissa Development Council (WODC) Dr Niranjan Panda on Friday said there is lack of unanimity among the politicians from the area about the location of the council headquarters.
Addressing a news conference here, Panda said though he convened four meetings during his tenure to try and settle the issue, politicians from different Western Orissa districts differed. He, however, said the Council has no dearth of funds to take up development projects. The budget of WODC has gone up to Rs 100 crore and it gets additional funds from the State Government for development of the KBK, he said.
Panda announced that perspective plan of Rs 300 crore for the next three years has been drawn up by the Council. This includes Rs 114 crore for irrigation, lift irrigation and rainwater management, Rs 13.5 crore for provision of drinking water, Rs 13.6 crore for electricity, Rs 45 crore for roads and communication, Rs 32 crore for health, Rs 60 crore for education, Rs 5 crore for Centre for Development Studies, Rs 9 crore for Agriculture Machinery Hiring Project and Rs 8 crore for agropolytechnic. Panda said steps have been initiated by the Council to improve health infrastructure in the area. Work for establishment of a nursing school at Sundargarh has already started. Funds have been sanctioned for establishment of diagnostic centres at Balangir, Deogarh, Sambalpur and Sonepur, he said. Panda said steps have also been taken to improve infrastructure in the education sector. Assistance is also being given to private schools for construction of additional classrooms, laboratories, libraries and toilets, he said.
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