‘Big on paper, weak on delivery’: Opposition hits out at Odisha Budget

Leader of the Opposition and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik on Friday sharply criticised the annual state budget presented in the assembly by chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi, dismissing it as a “full menu in an empty kitchen”.

Speaking to reporters outside the House, the former chief minister said the budget speech painted an impressive picture but lacked substance. “What can I say about this budget? It sounds to me like a full menu in an empty kitchen,” he remarked, suggesting that the announcements were not backed by adequate financial provisioning or clear implementation plans.

Senior Biju Janata Dal leader Dibya Shankar Mishra also attacked the Odisha Budget 2026–27, alleging that it offered no new policy direction, financial clarity or concrete roadmap for employment generation. He noted that while the budget speech lasted nearly two hours, it failed to introduce any major new initiatives for the people of the state.

The BJD MLA claimed that several schemes announced in the budget did not specify clear financial allocations or execution strategies. He further alleged that the document lacked impactful measures for women, social development and vulnerable communities.

“Most of the planning and programmes elaborated in the budget don’t have any financial provisions. That’s the worst part. There are no special benefit schemes for SCs and STs, or for the weaker sections of society. For women’s empowerment, they have done nothing beyond direct benefit schemes. For employment generation in the state, nothing new has come in,” Mishra alleged.

The Opposition Indian National Congress also criticised the 2026–27 budget, raising concerns over the rising loan burden and what it described as the government’s failure to fully utilise funds allocated in the current financial year.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das said the government could not claim credit for expanding the size of the budget when it had spent only 57 per cent of its total expenditure in the first 10 months of the ongoing financial year.

“You can’t increase the size of an empty budget. A government that has spent only 57 per cent of its total expenditure in the first 10 months cannot be proud of allocating over Rs 20,000 crore in the upcoming financial year. A budget as big as an elephant, but spending like a mosquito,” he said.

Labelling the government inept and the 2026–27 budget disappointing, Das also questioned whether citizens were secure under an administration that, he alleged, had increased the state’s debt to Rs 91,000 crore in just two budgets.

The criticism from both the BJD and the Congress sets the stage for a heated debate in the assembly over the state’s fiscal priorities, spending efficiency and commitments to employment and social welfare.

With IANS inputs