Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday asked Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to release the balance amount of Rs.399.88 crore for cyclone Phailin and an interim assistance of Rs.500 crore for cyclone Hudhud that hit Odisha recently."I met Finance Minister Jaitley and demanded assistance for cyclone. Firstly, the release of balance amount of Rs 399.88 crore from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) on account of cyclone Phailin of last year and also provide interim assistance of Rs 500 crore from NDRF for cyclone Hudhud of this year, which is urgently required for relief and immediate restoration work," Patnaik told media persons after meeting Jaitley here.The chief minister also sought extension of the rural banking services in 4,597 villages and coverage of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana in naxal affected areas in the state.
With the state government incurring heavy losses following the reduction of central sales tax (CST), Patnaik asked the Centre to compensate for the loss.The rate of CST was first reduced to 3 percent from 4 percent on April 1, 2007. Later, the state was again told to further reduce the CST rate to 2 per cent on May 1, 2008."While the state was expecting a compensation of Rs.3,843.03 crore from the 2007-08 to 2012-13 fiscal, it got only Rs.1,303.08 crore. If they do not pay the compensation, the Centre should allow the state to reintroduce CST at 4 percent," said a senior official of the state finance department in Bhubaneswar.