BJP Claims Odisha Unsafe for Women and Children, BJD Denies Allegations

GG News Bureau

Bhubaneswar, 21st Dec. The opposition BJP party alleged that the BJD government’s claims concerning women’s empowerment in Odisha are “hollow” and that the state has become unsafe for women and children.

Atrocities against women in the state have increased alarmingly in recent years, and the situation is similar in the case of children, particularly minor girls, according to Smruti Pattnaik, president of the Odisha BJP Mahila Morcha.

The ruling BJD dismissed the charges, claiming that its efforts to empower women through the SHG movement have been recognized by the BJP government at the Centre, as well as Niti Aayog and the United Nations.

Pattnaik described the BJD government’s claim about women’s empowerment in Odisha as “hollow” during a press conference on Tuesday. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has introduced several welfare schemes for women, Naveen Patnaik’s BJD government has used members of self-help groups for political purposes.

She claimed that the government only benefits women who campaign for the ruling party, citing the example of agitating Anganwadi and ASHA workers who are staging demonstrations in the cold weather.

Odisha has become completely unsafe for children due to an increase in kidnapping incidents, Pattnaik said at a press conference here on Tuesday, citing figures from the National Crime Record Bureau’s 2021 report.

She claimed that the rate of conviction in cases of atrocities against women in the state is “abysmally low” – only 8.3 percent in Odisha compared to 26.51 percent nationally.

In reference to the NCRB figures, Pattnaik stated that 23,183 crimes against women were recorded in Odisha in 2019, rising to 25,499 in 2020. In 2021, the figure jumped dramatically to 31,352.

According to the BJP leader, over 1600 children have gone missing in the state in the last five years, with the number increasing by 42% in 2022 compared to 2021.

The BJP, she said, will launch a two-day awareness campaign in the state highlighting the prime minister’s welfare schemes for women and how the BJD is manipulating them for political gain. Thirty-six prominent women leaders from the saffron party will visit all districts in Odisha to educate women about their rights and how the BJD has been abusing them.

Countering Pattnaik’s charges, BJD spokesperson Lelin Mohanty Wednesday said the party believes in empowering women and is the only party in the country which “prioritises the political space for women from the panchayat till Parliament”.

He stated that empowering 80 lakh women through the SHG movement has changed the landscape in the state, and women in Odisha have become change agents.

While agreeing that crime against women is a serious issue, he believes it can only be addressed by empowering 50% of the population (the women).

“Let national parties not look at it (crime against women) from a political prism … It will be better if we work unitedly instead of having a perpetual habit of bringing false allegations for petty political gains,” he added.