Population control measure (sterilization camps) in Odisha

Recently, Times of India carried a news piece where bicycle pumps were used on 56 women who undergone sterilization surgeries as a government measure to control population at a camp in Odisha's Angul district on November 28 and soon after that the state government on Tuesday (2nd Dec 2014) issued a blanket ban on sterilization camps after an administrative probe confirmed that the pumps had been used during the procedures at Angul. 

Odisha health secretary said in a statement that "The government has decided that henceforth no such camp will be organized for sterilization to ensure quality care. Only established healthcare centres with proper operation theatres can conduct the surgeries adhering to universal infection prevention practices only on Mondays between 9 am and 4 pm. Stringent action will taken against those found not following standard operation procedures." 

But is such a blanket order justified? While we acknowledge that providing basic minimum level of health care facilities is of extremely important, at the same time we also feel that India and Indians need such sterilization camps not just to control India's population, but to make household economically and socially sound and independent. Instead of arranging better heath care facilities during such govt. organized camps which are quite popular among people, the government of Odisha instead declared a blanket ban, which will now deprive many people from various strata of the society to avail this cheap facility. The government must organize more such camps after providing quality infrastructures.

Special status for Odisha - Naveen Patnaik demands

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had a great chance of getting special status for Odisha before the election, when BJP was scouting for partners. But Naveen at that time did not realize the importance of BJP and never thought of reviving the old friendship broken just few years back. But he has not given up his hope and still continuing to demand since the previous Congress government. Citing the relative backwardness of Odisha and the Polavaram project, which in its present form would severely affect tribal population, Naveen on Monday stepped up the demand for special category status for his state.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Patnaik also sought early release of special central assistance of Rs 1,397 crore for organising Nabakalebar festival of Lord Jagannath, commencement of international flight operations from Bhubaneswar, completion of ongoing railway projects and sanction of new projects to actualise rail corridor and port connectivity in the state.

The Prime Minister assured that all the issues raised by the Chief Minister would receive his personal attention and that the Union Government would extend the required support for accelerating the socio-economic development of the state, a press release by the state government said.

The Chief Minister also demanded release of compensation amount on account of reduction of central sales tax (CST) from four to two per cent and release of central assistance for Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) and other schemes like MNREGS and for an additional 5 lakh beneficiaries under Indira Gandhi National Pension Scheme.

Patnaik raised issues like Polavaram Project and its consequences for the backward tribal dominated district of Malkangiri, the release said.

Referring to the relative backwardness of Odisha and the recommendation by Raghuram Rajan Committee, he reiterated the need to accord special category status to Odisha for ensuring adequate flow of funds and enabling it to catch up with the other developed states of the country.

He urged the Prime Minister for early release of special central assistance of Rs 1,397 crore to supplement the efforts of the state in organising Nabakalebar, a significant event in eastern India.

This is a ritual followed for centuries at the Jagannath Temple where the deities leave their old form and assume new ones every 12-19 years. Over 5 million pilgrims and tourists are expected to congregate at Puri town during a three-month period necessitating huge setup of infrastructure.

Patnaik told the Prime Minister that Nabakalebar is scheduled to be held in July 2015 and requires preparations on war footing, including creation of adequate infrastructure. The Chief Minister also raised the challenges of severe floods, cyclones and drought in the state.

Model Schools in all 314 Blocks in Odisha

The Odisha government is making constructive efforts towards augmenting the education quality at the school level. In its bid to upgrade standard of Odisha students, the state government today decided to open model schools in all the 314 blocks on the pattern of central schools, official sources said.

Under the centrally sponsored model school scheme, these schools will be set up under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode in all 314 blocks of the state on the pattern of central schools that aims at up-gradation of standard of Odisha students.

Besides English and Odia, the students would be imparted education in Hindi and Sanskrit languages, the minister said adding that the model schools will be run through a special society similar to Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) that runs central schools, he added.

This was decided at a high level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here. "The state government will spend Rs 190 crore this fiscal for the purpose of construction of 162 model schools," school and mass education minister Debi Prasad Mishra told reporters today.

Stating that 50 per cent of seats in such model schools will be reserved for the girl students, Mishra said arrangements were being made to construct ladies hostels close to the schools.

Apart from this, each school in Odisha will have green fencing and kitchen garden at their school premises, the Minister said. He suggested that the School Health programme should be integrated with Red Cross for conduct of blood grouping tests at school level.

Commissioner-cum-Secretary of School and Mass Education Department Smt Usha Padhee proposed that JRC counsellors of each school should ensure proper hand wash before mid-day meal. Besides, she also stressed on creattion of Eco-Club in the schools.

Chief Minister Patnaik has also directed the school and mass education department to create a separate cadre for the faculty members. Besides usual courses, the model schools would have provision for vocational training.

The model schools would have classes from standard VI to XII, the minister said. Hopefully, these model schools will set a trend among other government schools already in a pathetic conditions to model themselves in the line of these model schools.

Coal shortage from Talcher coalfields causing power shortage in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

Dr. Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station (NTTPS), previously Vijayawada Thermal Power Station (VTPS), is heading for a crisis. The 1,760 MW power plant, with an assured coal linkage from Talcher coal fields in Orissa, is facing severe shortage of fuel required for power generation. Telangana and parts of Andhra Pradesh are already in the grip of power crisis due to drop in generation from the Kothagudem thermal power station.

Any decline in power generation from VTPS could accentuate the situation further, officials said.

VTPS officials said the plant would require about 28,000 tonnes of coal a day. But the supply was not commensurate with the requirement. In addition, adequate stocks could not be positioned in advance due to various reasons.

In this background, officials are worried that the sudden rise in the demand for power owing to severe heat wave conditions had the potential to pose problems for the utility. Speaking to The Hindu on Friday, VTPS Chief Engineer J. Sammaiah said “We are receiving coal on daily basis and this is enabling power generation without any hassles. But if the coal supply is affected even for an hour, then its impact can be severe.” “We are getting three rakes of coal a day from the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) as an emergency measure.

The AP Genco authorities are exploring options to procure coal from other sources to meet the increased demand,” Mr. Sammaiah said.

Though there was no problem as of now, any delay in receiving the coal consignment from Mahanadi Coalfields on account of transportation and other problems could cast an impact on the generation.

High temperatures at Talcher and employees’ unions strike are said to be the other reasons for poor production at MCL.

We are getting three rakes of coal a day from SCCL as an emergency measure, says Chief Engineer J. Sammaiah. Any decline in power generation from VTPS could accentuate the situation further, officials said.

Source : The Hindu

Odisha joins hand with Srilanka to revive Buddhist Link

The Kalinga-India Foundation was launched at the Sri Lankan High Commission here on Thursday by High Commissioner Prasad Kariyaswasam and India's former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh. The foundation, based in Gurgaon is part of Kariyawasam's endeavours on developing unique ties with individual Indian states on the basis of their cultural linkages with the island nation.

Besides spearheading initiatives to build upon the common heritage between Odisha-- traditionally known as Kalinga-- and Sri Lanka, the foundation would encourage investment to exploit the human and mineral resources of the two. It would also promote research in socio-cultural and economic ties and give institutional support to scholars and artistes. The more visible impact of the foundation would be to promote and facilitate the visits of tourists and pilgrims to sites in two regions.

Mansingh, a recipient of Odisha's Kharavela Samman said, “In the last decade, the state has had political stability and we get dozens of proposals for investment. The foundation would facilitate entrepreneurs from Odisha and Sri Lanka to go for joint ventures.” He added that the strategic locations of Lankan and Odia ports offers easy access to the markets of South East Asia.

Mr. Kariyawasam said that reinvigorating the ancient links of Lanka to Kalinga with a productive, vibrant and stable relationship with Odisha would complement robust ties with India. “When South Asia and Asia rise, our two regions that once controlled the sea trade at the time may also rise,” he said.

Besides a common Buddhist heritage, Sinhala kings have been from Kalinga. The founder of the Sinhala race was Kalinga's Prince Vijaya and the tooth relic of the Buddha in Kandy -- considered a national symbol of Lanka-- was also brought Dantapura in Kalinga.

Kariyawasam who is set to take on the key diplomatic role of Ambassador to the United States, had earlier facilitated the establishment of a temple to Sita near Nuwara Eliya sponsored by the Madhya Pradesh government. The High Commission has taken keen interest in participating and providing inputs to the Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies in MP.

The relationship with Odisha is linked to the rise of state's mining industry. The cultural, linguistic and behavioural similarities of Odisha and Lanka in addition to sites of common heritage like the Buddhist Diamond circuit of monuments in state are focus areas of the foundation.

Among the invitees senior politician KP Singh Deo, leader of the Biju Janata Dal in the Lok Sabha-- Bhartruhari Mahtab, renowned hotelier T. Banambar Patra, industrialist K. Madhusudana Choudary, artist Jatin Das, economist Santosh Panda, former Odisha Chief Secretary Debi Prasad Bagchi and several serving and former bureaucrats.

Odisha government asked to provide report about overcrowded prisons in the state

This is another instance of how the central government is at fight with the state government of Odisha, mostly for political margin. With the national election ahead and Odisha will also go for Assembly election at the same time, the Congress government at the center is using all possible ways to defame the current incumbent CM Naveen Patnaik.

Yesterday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the State Chief Secretary to submit an action-taken report (ATR) within four weeks regarding rights to live of the prisoners in different jails of the State.  

Acting on a complaint filed by a Angul-based rights body Human Rights Watch secretary Sangita Swain, the Commission has issued the notice on December 31 last year.  The petitioner basing on RTI information alleged that more number of prisoners even twice are staying at several jails like in Baragharh, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Rayagada, Angul and 12 other jails than the scheduled accommodation from the category of under trail and convicted prisoners violating their rights to live even after punishment.  

This implies, the complainant alleged, dual punishment for the same offence which is the mental shock during the punishment period, besides urging the Commission to ensure emergent action against the concerned authority and compensate the prisoners facing the problems in daily basis.

There is no doubt that it’s the duty and obligation of the State government to provide human treatment to the prisoners just like any other human beings. But the timing of this allegation is little doubtful, with the whole country moving towards elections. Saying this, we also must restate that the Odisha government must also make adequate efforts to build new prisons and provide essential facilities in the existing prisons throughout the state. 

Different governments at Center and State hindering Odisha's development - The case of Mining in Odisha

The federal form of administration with multi-party system - nevertheless being the very column of democratic institution - is taking its toll on the development of India. While the Congress is in power at the centre and regional party like BJD limited to Odisha is in power at the state, it’s creating a great deterrent to the development of the state economy that eventually contributing to the stagnation of Indian development.

This situation is of course not limited to Odisha only. The scenario is same with other states that are not being run by Congress. The central government has always given deaf ears to the needs of such states and what’s more, it has directly or indirectly caused hindrance to the development of such states for political vendetta.  This is especially true to those states where the chief minister is not very dynamic and daring enough to fight the central government for the development of the state.

This is what happens to Odisha as well at least since last 15 years. No doubt Chief Minister Naeen Patnaik, is doing exceedingly well in Odisha. But he could do much more if there is constant support from the central government.

Few years ago the central government stopped many mining activities in the state on the ground of environmental concerns. Union Cabinet on Thursday referred the MB Shah commission of inquiry report on illegal mining in Odisha to the committee of secretaries (CoS) to suggest further action which may include recovery of nearly Rs 60,000 crore from the miners and a CBI probe into roles of public servants in allocating mines to private companies. 

The commission has severely indicted both the Centre and the Odisha government on illegal mining of iron and manganese ores in its 5-volume report and it is bound to be a political hot potato for the BJD government as well as the Congress ahead of next year's Lok Sabha poll. 

Finance minister P Chidambaram said the Cabinet has asked the CoS to formulate an action taken report (ATR), which along with the Shah commission report, will be tabled in Parliament. 

He, however, refused to divulge the details of the report, saying, "It is the first report, and I think it is in 4 or 5 volumes. We are asking the CoS to draw up the ATR. The report of the Shah commission, appointed under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, must be placed before House together with an action taken report. The ATR will be drafted by a CoS and then the Cabinet will take a final view on that." 

Besides indicting both the Centre and the Odisha government, the commission also asked the state to recover over Rs 59,203 crore from the miners and use the amount for the development of two districts, Keonjhar and Sundergarh, "badly affected by illegal excess mining". 

It also recommended granting all future mining leases via auction route only and asked the government to revisit environment clearances given to all 55 mining leases which are located along the Baitarani River. Till the completion of the exercise, "the mines may be closed", it said.

What is there for Naveen Patnaik and BJD in forthcoming Assembly and General elections ?

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik stole a march over Opposition parties in the recently concluded civic polls in western Orissa as Biju Janata Dal (BJD) swept by winning 15 of the 20 urban local bodies that went to polls on Friday . Ahead of the state Assembly Election and general elections next year the present civic poll results might be an indication about what is offing in near future for the ruling BJD.

Two months ago, the party had won 49 of the 66 urban local bodies in the first phase of the polls. The polls to the 20 local bodies in the western Orissa were deferred due to a strike by lawyers in western Orissa demanding a separate bench of Orissa HC.

The massive win in western Orissa, considered to be BJD's Achilles' Heel, has come as a major boost for Naveen and BJD with general elections less than 6 months away. An elated Naveen Patnaik said: "This is a tremendous victory for our party in western Orissa." Naveen, who is now in 13th year of his chief ministership, campaigned hard as he helihopped to almost all the local bodies pitching for his party candidates. He also pressed the services of Oriya cinema stars and sports stars for getting the votes of urban youth. In contrast to BJD's win, Congress and BJP could win 1 urban local body each in Barpali NAC of Bargarh district and Patnagarh NAC of Bolangir district respectively.

In three local bodies, no party got clear majority. In the first phase, Congress had won 11 while BJP won 1 urban local body. The Congress performed miserably in Kalahandi district where its party MP and AICC spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das could not save Bhawanipatna municipality going to BJD's kitty. In Sundargarh too, where Congress has an LS MP, it could not stop the BJD juggernaut. For BJP it was another washout performance as the party could not retain the seven civic bodies which it won in 2008 elections.

Source: Indian Express