Reacting to the announcement in the Union budget, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said: "It is only indicative of the success of the state's model scheme, which has been adopted at the national level." Paika celebrations Though Naveen termed the Union budget as a mixed bag that fell short of expectations on many counts, he hailed the Centre's decision to commemorate the 200th year celebration of Buxi Jagabandhu's Paika Bidroha (the Paika uprising against the Britishers). This year's allocation is roughly 9 per cent more in comparison to last year's allocation, which was Rs 4,682 crore. Royalty blues The state government is upset as the budget proposes no increase in the coal royalty though Odisha has been demanding it since 2015. Both the state finance minister and the chief minister had raised the issue with the Centre several times.

Source: The Telegraph February 01, 2017 22:23 UTC