Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised that the BJP would make Odisha “number one” in the country if voted to power in the Assembly polls, BJD’s V K Pandian has taken up the gauntlet.
He claimed on Sunday that the eastern state is ahead of Gujarat in various parameters. Pandian, who served as private secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for over a decade, shared statistics, comparing various indices of Gujarat and Odisha, with a comment, “Look who wants to make Odisha number one.”
Pandian said Gujarat lagged behind Odisha despite Modi heading the western state for three terms before becoming the prime minister in 2014.
Simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections will commence in Odisha from the fourth phase on Monday.
Health front
Pandian cited the NHFS-5 (National Health Family Survey) data to say that the prevalence of anaemia among women was 65% in Odisha, while it was 69% in Gujarat. While 64% of children in Odisha were anaemic, the percentage was 80% in Gujarat. He said Odisha fared much better than Gujarat in terms of immunisation as well, with 90% of children having been vaccinated, compared to only 76.3% in Gujarat.
More than 86% of women in Odisha have bank accounts, compared to only 70% in Gujarat, Pandian said. Moreover, 50% of women in the eastern state have mobile phones whereas 48.8% women in Gujarat have the device. He said per capita debt in Gujarat was Rs 60,000, almost thrice than that of Odisha’s Rs 22,000.
Primary enrolment ratio in schools was almost 98% in Odisha, compared to 90% in Gujarat, he said in a statement.
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