Naveen Patnaik, the chief minister of Odisha and head of the BJD, advised party lawmakers on Tuesday to push for the passage of the Women Reservation Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament as well as the subject of giving the state special status. Beginning on July 20, the Parliament’s monsoon session will be held.
Patnaik instructed the party MPs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to attempt to raise the matter pertaining to the adoption of the bill seeking 33 percent quota for women in the Lok Sabha and assemblies as he presided over the BJD’s parliamentary party meeting in virtual mode.
Additionally, the BJD president complained to his party’s lawmakers that the Centre has ignored calls for Odisha to be given special attention status. According to BJD leader in the Lok Sabha Pinaki Mishra, the demand should be brought up in both Houses of Parliament.
Mishra argued that Odisha should be designated as a special focus state since it is the only state in the nation to have experienced the effects of cyclones, floods, and droughts. According to Mishra, the MPs informed the party leader that they were unable to bring up topics pertaining to Odisha in Parliament because of a number of problems.
He said that BJP MPs had thwarted BJD parliamentarians’ attempts to meet with Union ministers outside of Parliament in order to advance certain projects. He gave examples like the heritage projects in Puri and Bhubaneswar, the paddy procurement problem, the removal of parboiled rice from Odisha, the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana webpage, and others.
He (Patnaik) heard about our struggles and expressed worry that MPs are unable to effectively bring up state-related matters in Parliament, Mishra added. The state administration has been making every effort to enhance a number of areas, including health, education, and agriculture, according to the BJD president, who also said this during the parliamentary party meeting.
