Bhubaneswar, July 16 -- By Ashutosh Mishra
Bhubaneswar: Newspapers have quoted union minister of state for finance, Anurag Thakur as telling the Lok Sabha that Centre is not considering any proposal to grant special category state status to Odisha. There is also no move to increase Centre's share of funds for centrally sponsored schemes in the state.
Thakur's statement must have disappointed Odisha government and the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders as chief minister, Naveen Patnaik has been consistent in demanding special status for the state. He is believed to have taken up the issue with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi when the two leaders met in New Delhi recently. Patnaik had also asked Modi to declare cyclone-hit Odisha as a ' spe...