K. Anuradha Mohanty & Bidyut Mohanty
After the introduction of the new economic policy in 1991, the trend of acquiring land, as an integral part of the liberalisation policy, is evident in Odisha. The overall effort of the state government was to acquire more land for the different private ventures including Posco and Vedanta.
Once again, Odisha is much in news but for the different reasons. In the 1980's, Odisha got the attention of the world when media exposed the incidences of large-scale starvation deaths and selling of children in Kalahandi and other districts. Although such incidents are also still taking place but the attention has now shifted from these human stories to the financial matters. In Odisha, "foreign investments", "export promotion" and "privatization" are the new buzz word.
In 1990s, the state announced new power, infrastructure and mining policies to woo foreign and domestic private investments. During 1995-96, Orissa received the largest amount of private investments in India, both foreign and domestic. In the post-liberalisation period, Odisha ranks sixth in foreign investment in the country. Between 1992 to 1997, Odisha has attracted Rs. 97,300 crore of investments. Majority of investments are in heavy industries consisting of steel, alumina and power projects.
All the new projects are solely attracted due to the natural resources of Odisha. The big business houses are eying at the mineral resources as Odisha has 90 percent of India's chrome ore and nickle reserves, 70 percent of bauxite and 24 percent of coal reserves. Besides, the state government is offering exceptionally huge subsidies to investors and there is abundance of cheap labour further makes it investor-friendly state.
Role of International Finance
The new investments are backed by a number of loans and aided projects by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and G-7 countries to facilitate the entry of international capital in Odisha. According to IPS study, the World Bank is providing loan guarantees and low-interest loans to a number of projects in Odisha. The World Bank's financed projects include coal sector rehabilitation project, power sector restructuring, Ib valley coal-fired plants, and Talcher coal-fired power project. The World Bank is expected to finance super-highway between Talcher and Gopalpur and four-lane road from
Rourkela to Sambalpur. The Balasore-Kharagpur highway is also financed by the World Bank. The ADB is supporting Paradeep port expansion, Orissa power sector restructuring and AES/Ib valley power project. These investments are between 1992 to 1997 in the state. After that many more international finance institutions and MNCs came forward with new investment plan in the state. All the investments and the proposals are solely attracted by the mineral resource wealth of Odisha and offering of huge subsidies to investors by the state Govt.
Odisha government has promptly and proactively taken several steps for the investment, industries and land acquisition but very slow and inactive towards problem of displacement and R & R.
Odisha R and R of projects – affected person policy 1994
In 1994, the department of water resources, GOO, in consultation with NGOs and the world bank, came up with the Odisha R and R of projects- affected persons policy vide the dept resolution no 25296 dated august 27 1994.
Certain guidelines were prepared by the revenue and excise dept, GOO. ( GOO. 1989). Nalco is the first ever-industrial projects in the state to formulate a policy for rehabilitating both locally displaced persons and substantially affected persons. Between 1994 to till to the year 2005 the govt just ignored the issues of displacement and R & R of the people.
During the draft period of 2005, many suggestions from different Civil Society Organizations were brought into the notice of UNDP. Among them CSOs Displace People's Forum of Koraput suggested many important points in the draft policy. They had also demonstration and rally before the state assembly in March 2005 and submitted a memorandum with suggestions to the Honourable Governor, Chief Minister and other higher officials for action.
However, some of the suggestions were included in the final draft of 2005 which was submitted by the UNDP to Odisha government on June 4, 2005.But due to the pressure from the industrial houses and companies the government sat over the policy and did not place before the assembly.
The Kalinga Nagar massacre happened in the January 2, 2006. The police gunned down 12 of them who opposed the construction of a boundary wall for the proposed steel plant of Tata Steel. After the tragic incidence and subsequent blockade of road by the tribals, the government woke up from the deep slumber and announced that a committee headed by revenue minister Biswabhushan Harichandan will study the R & R draft policy that was pending with it since August last. The committee was formed with a group of ministers. Instead of consulting the displaced people and the civil society members the government send some of the ministers to other states like, AP and Karnataka to study their R & R Policy.
The committee drafted a policy ignoring the previous positive points from the R & R draft of UNDP. In a hurry, the R & R policy was finalised and got the cabinet approval and gazetted on May 14, 2006, by passing the Assembly. The policy was also not placed for comments in the public domain. The said R & R policy is made in favour of industries and before finalization the industrial houses were consulted and they dictated it. Delivering the valedictory address at a two-days seminar on " corporate sector responsibility in 21st century" at the Business Administration Department of Sambalpur University, Odisha's former Minister for Revenue, food and Civil Supplies, Mr. Manmohan Samal said that " The ministers were deliberating on the possible changes in R & R policy of Odisha and industries would soon be invited for their views before the policy was given a final shape" But the consultation with the Industrial houses was done in closed door and it was never done public.
R & R policy of the 2006 : Contradictions and pseudo-ism
As mentioned earlier that the government is very fast and enlightened to help and support the foreign investment and the big companies. In this light, it is also facing many tragic incidents like Kalinganagar, Maikanch, lower Suktel and several unrests and protests in the recent past. So, it has created a myth, that there is a strong desire of the government to develop the displace people as a result of which policy has taken birth. And it is claiming its policy to be the best in the country.
The principles on which R & R Policy should be based
In search of a good R & R policy many researchers, affected & displaced people and the civil society members have raised many fundamental questions and suggested alternatives from time to time. The first task in this search is to identify the principle. The basic thinking in this approach was that every citizen of the country has a right to a life with dignity. Some cannot be deprived of their livelihood without their consent, to the benefit of another class, even in the name of national development. The following principles are
1. The consent of the people affected on the nature of public interest.
The land acquisition act 1894 allows people to be displaced without their consent, in the name of public purpose which is yet undefined. Thus it abrogates the democratic rights of the people. The first principle of a law or principle has to be recognition of this right. A developmental process should be based on the rational choice of the people.
2. The need to minimize displacement.
Its first step is to search for non-displacing alternatives while planning the project. The second is while selecting the site, and the third is on various components of the project. Minimization of displacement requires rethinking on many aspects on the LAAct. In attempting the land alienation easy the LAAct does not show much respect to the affected people. The only alternative is to ensure that displacement is avoided and when it is exceptional cases, to ensure that the smallest possible number is deprived of its livelihood.
3. Replacement value for compensation
Even a small number of people deprived of their livelihood have a fundamental right to begin life a new. In more than one case the Supreme court has interpreted article 21 of the constitution as right to life with dignity. None can be deprived of it in the name of common good if it involves sacrificing their livelihood for the good or profit of another class.
4. Rehabilitation as a right.
The principle based on justice that none be displaced without rehabilitation which has to be viewed as a right of those who are paying the price of development. As such it is the integral to the life with dignity under article 21, not a concession from the state or project authorities.
5. Transition to a new life
The project authorities need to ensure that the DPs\PAPs are prepared to face the new life they are pushed into often without their consent. They have to be helped with cultural, economic, psychological and social preparation to adapt themselves to the new life.
6. A caste /tribe and gender perspective.
The tribals, dalits and other service castes are its worst sufferers. Even among them women feel the most negative impact. So special attention has to be paid to the needs of these groups. In other words the policy should have caste\ tribe\gender biasness in looking into special and specific attention.
Recently, the Odisha government is attempting to lift the regulation on tribal land alienation provision to facilitate the easy process for business house to acquire land. Liberalization and globalization demands more land than in past, so greater displacement is likely to result as its impact. When the government is guided by the big business houses, forgetting its constitutional obligations the situation will be worse in next decade.
Conclusion
The very approach of the state government in the whole issue of displacement and R & R is questionable. When it is very active towards declaring many policies for the establishment of industries but have apathetic attitude towards the R & R issues. The earlier development oppressed the poor, tribals, dalits the present one excludes them. It can be inferred from the present R & R policy that the state of Odisha has given a little thought to the rehabilitation of the people. Whenever there is some echo of the tragic incidents, it is coming with a policy starting from the Rengali till to the Kalinga nagar incident. Majority of the displaced and project affected people have rejected the present policy in the state, still government is trying to offer more sops in term cash which is evident in the Kalinga nagar and POSCO area. Unless until the R & R policy is not based on the set of discussed principles people will reject it. At present the trend shows that the Big business houses are pulling the string and the state government is just a puppet.
In the age of globalisation, the national and multinational capitalist companies are eyeing for the land and other resources in the hands of the people. This, in collaboration with the state and bureaucracy, is sought to be achieved through the changes in relevant laws and policies. The Union government has recently introduced changes in Land Acquisition Act, has prepared number of Draft Policies for Resettlement and Rehabilitation.The Union Water Resources Ministry and National Thermal Power Corporation have also proposed different drafts of rehabilitation. Suddenly, these agencies have felt the need to talk about the resettlement that to in their term. The large-scale displacement, therefore, is in offing which needs to be debated at length.
K. Anuradha Mohanty is a research scholar in Utkal University and Bidyut Mohanty works with the land related issues in Odisha.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
World Bank-DFID's shadow still persists on Odisha's education sector
By Anil Pradhan
It is known to all that India had faced the balance of payment problem in 1990. Odisha too faced the problem of over draft situation. The state government sought financial support from World Bank and DFID to over come this problem. These international agencies have got chance to dictate terms and conditions to the weak state government.
Odisha government has started pushing fiscal reforms since 1999 and taken several steps like freezing grants-in-aid to the education sector on the dictates of World Bank and DFID.
A meeting was held between the Union and state governments on April 15, 1999
to discuss various fiscal measures in the state. It was decided that the state will take immediate steps to determine user charges for other social and economic services such as school, college and university fees, water charges, health care fees, veterinary services, and irrigation rents. The state will issue government orders for raising the user charges for secondary and college education by July 1999.
This was reflected when government presented a White paper on state finances in the state assembly in 2000. The white paper clearly stated, "The expenditure on general education was Rs.177.95 crores in the year 1984-85. It was 21.60% of the revenue receipt and 20.23% of the total revenue expenditure of the year 1984-85. The expenditure reached the level of Rs.1166.67 crores in the year 1997-98, accounted for 25.18% of the total revenue receipt and 21.07% of the total revenue expenditure on the year 1997-98. A single item of expenditure soaks one fourth of the revenue receipts of the state government. While three fourths of the receipt fails to absorb all other items of expenditure of all other departments. So, the revenue expenditure overflows the limit of revenue receipt. The expenditure on education therefore requires to be capped. ----"The state government's policy with regard to the salary structure of the non-Govt. Aided educational institutions and the policy directives concerning establishment of new schools and colleges need an urgent re-look, in view of the huge expenditure in the education sector. Unless the grant-in-aid frozen at a certain level by a change in policy or by legislation, the expenditure on education will devour the entire state revenues in the coming years……."
It will be worthwhile to mention here that " non-governmental aided institutions in the state play a crucial role as they managed 74% secondary schools and 92 percent higher secondary schools in 1993 in Orissa. Non-government aided means here the schools managed by the community and government support them for teacher's salary and other administrative expenses".
Consequently, World Bank and DFID started restructuring Odisha's administration and Odisha government accepted their terms and conditions unconditionally with the hopes that they will get a loan from the WB. With the help of DFID consultants, Odisha government prepared strategy documents to carry out structural adjustment programme in Odisha.
The Joint Technical Economic Mission of World Bank and DFID directed Odisha government in its AIDE MEMOIARE from May 8-13, 2000.
"One of the key fiscal issues in the education sector is the provision of grant-in-aid for salary payments to private schools (primary, secondary and Tertiary). After raising steeply in the early nineties, these were effectively capped in the mid-nineties by refusing to pay grants to any eligible schools not already receiving funds. However, in the last few years, these grant-in-aids have risen again on account of salary increases. These educational grants are unaffordable and inequitable, at least for secondary and tertiary education. There are three measures government could take to control grants:
Limit the potential liability by capping the number of schools and colleges eligible for grants.
Reduce the budgetary burden by capping grants to individual schools and colleges at their current nominal level.
Enforce current regulations to remove aid from poorly performing schools and colleges receiving grants. The first two measures will likely require legislative action. A cabinet sub-committee on education has prepared draft legislation for consideration."
If we analyse the functioning of Odisha government since 2000, it has been carrying out the instruction of joint technical economic mission of World Bank and DFID.
Again from September 24-30, 2000, Joint technical mission in its AIDE MENOIRE said that "----- Hence measures should be considered to adopt criteria for screening the qualification of grant-in-aid institutions for continued support and measures be considered for eliminating support where quality educational services were not being provided while protecting support for high quality and deserving institutions."
One should note that the performance of many schools is poor due to the shortage of teachers, in accessibility, poor monitoring and various socio-economic reasons. If government will close these schools because the performance of these schools are poor, then the poor will be again deprived from educational rights?
Odisha faces a number of challenges in the education sector that have become more pronounced due to the state's fiscal problems. While it is important to put the grant-in aid policy to private institutions accounts for less than 10% of the education budget (Rs 150 crores out of Rs 1700 crores, approximately). In particular, even during the period of fiscal adjustment, the priority that has been given in recent years to expand coverage and improve quality in primary education should not be undermined.
In the context of Odisha's fiscal problems, it would be extremely important to pay attention to measures to reduce unit costs across all levels of education. The government is considering measures such as the use of alternative schools (which have lower unit recurrent costs than formal schools) and para-teachers in elementary education…..
"….. the Government is considering various options for increasing user fees in education, the rates for which have not been adjusted in for over forty years and constitute a negligible source to financing. Recent experience with the self financing course in Orissa has demonstrated the willingness of students to pay very high fees provided they feel that quality services are provided in return ……".
Here, several questions arises like who will be beneficiary of self –financing course ? 47% of people live in below poverty line in Orissa.
The other recommendations of them for reducing financial burden are as follow:
…. to prevent any new institutions from receiving grants and to gradually take posts that fall vacant off the list of positions that are eligible for grants…. among other measures to reduce costs, the government should consider the rationalisation of school education (specially avoiding setting up schools … "the redeployment of teachers" ….)
From this one can understand the role of World Bank and DFID in the education of Odisha. On the one hand, they talk about Education for All and Million Development Goal (MGD) and on the other hand, they dictate state government for freezing grants-in-aids in education.
A good education system is necessary as it plays a major role in the development of the society and state. A public debate is necessary to prepare a blue print for the education sector in Odisha.
The author works in the field of education. He has written this paper based on the research work done by Prof Abani Kumar Baral on the state education sector. Please feel free to send your comments and suggestions at janatavikasmanch@gmail.com and visit
www.janatavikasmanch.blogspot.com for more details.
It is known to all that India had faced the balance of payment problem in 1990. Odisha too faced the problem of over draft situation. The state government sought financial support from World Bank and DFID to over come this problem. These international agencies have got chance to dictate terms and conditions to the weak state government.
Odisha government has started pushing fiscal reforms since 1999 and taken several steps like freezing grants-in-aid to the education sector on the dictates of World Bank and DFID.
A meeting was held between the Union and state governments on April 15, 1999
to discuss various fiscal measures in the state. It was decided that the state will take immediate steps to determine user charges for other social and economic services such as school, college and university fees, water charges, health care fees, veterinary services, and irrigation rents. The state will issue government orders for raising the user charges for secondary and college education by July 1999.
This was reflected when government presented a White paper on state finances in the state assembly in 2000. The white paper clearly stated, "The expenditure on general education was Rs.177.95 crores in the year 1984-85. It was 21.60% of the revenue receipt and 20.23% of the total revenue expenditure of the year 1984-85. The expenditure reached the level of Rs.1166.67 crores in the year 1997-98, accounted for 25.18% of the total revenue receipt and 21.07% of the total revenue expenditure on the year 1997-98. A single item of expenditure soaks one fourth of the revenue receipts of the state government. While three fourths of the receipt fails to absorb all other items of expenditure of all other departments. So, the revenue expenditure overflows the limit of revenue receipt. The expenditure on education therefore requires to be capped. ----"The state government's policy with regard to the salary structure of the non-Govt. Aided educational institutions and the policy directives concerning establishment of new schools and colleges need an urgent re-look, in view of the huge expenditure in the education sector. Unless the grant-in-aid frozen at a certain level by a change in policy or by legislation, the expenditure on education will devour the entire state revenues in the coming years……."
It will be worthwhile to mention here that " non-governmental aided institutions in the state play a crucial role as they managed 74% secondary schools and 92 percent higher secondary schools in 1993 in Orissa. Non-government aided means here the schools managed by the community and government support them for teacher's salary and other administrative expenses".
Consequently, World Bank and DFID started restructuring Odisha's administration and Odisha government accepted their terms and conditions unconditionally with the hopes that they will get a loan from the WB. With the help of DFID consultants, Odisha government prepared strategy documents to carry out structural adjustment programme in Odisha.
The Joint Technical Economic Mission of World Bank and DFID directed Odisha government in its AIDE MEMOIARE from May 8-13, 2000.
"One of the key fiscal issues in the education sector is the provision of grant-in-aid for salary payments to private schools (primary, secondary and Tertiary). After raising steeply in the early nineties, these were effectively capped in the mid-nineties by refusing to pay grants to any eligible schools not already receiving funds. However, in the last few years, these grant-in-aids have risen again on account of salary increases. These educational grants are unaffordable and inequitable, at least for secondary and tertiary education. There are three measures government could take to control grants:
Limit the potential liability by capping the number of schools and colleges eligible for grants.
Reduce the budgetary burden by capping grants to individual schools and colleges at their current nominal level.
Enforce current regulations to remove aid from poorly performing schools and colleges receiving grants. The first two measures will likely require legislative action. A cabinet sub-committee on education has prepared draft legislation for consideration."
If we analyse the functioning of Odisha government since 2000, it has been carrying out the instruction of joint technical economic mission of World Bank and DFID.
Again from September 24-30, 2000, Joint technical mission in its AIDE MENOIRE said that "----- Hence measures should be considered to adopt criteria for screening the qualification of grant-in-aid institutions for continued support and measures be considered for eliminating support where quality educational services were not being provided while protecting support for high quality and deserving institutions."
One should note that the performance of many schools is poor due to the shortage of teachers, in accessibility, poor monitoring and various socio-economic reasons. If government will close these schools because the performance of these schools are poor, then the poor will be again deprived from educational rights?
Odisha faces a number of challenges in the education sector that have become more pronounced due to the state's fiscal problems. While it is important to put the grant-in aid policy to private institutions accounts for less than 10% of the education budget (Rs 150 crores out of Rs 1700 crores, approximately). In particular, even during the period of fiscal adjustment, the priority that has been given in recent years to expand coverage and improve quality in primary education should not be undermined.
In the context of Odisha's fiscal problems, it would be extremely important to pay attention to measures to reduce unit costs across all levels of education. The government is considering measures such as the use of alternative schools (which have lower unit recurrent costs than formal schools) and para-teachers in elementary education…..
"….. the Government is considering various options for increasing user fees in education, the rates for which have not been adjusted in for over forty years and constitute a negligible source to financing. Recent experience with the self financing course in Orissa has demonstrated the willingness of students to pay very high fees provided they feel that quality services are provided in return ……".
Here, several questions arises like who will be beneficiary of self –financing course ? 47% of people live in below poverty line in Orissa.
The other recommendations of them for reducing financial burden are as follow:
…. to prevent any new institutions from receiving grants and to gradually take posts that fall vacant off the list of positions that are eligible for grants…. among other measures to reduce costs, the government should consider the rationalisation of school education (specially avoiding setting up schools … "the redeployment of teachers" ….)
From this one can understand the role of World Bank and DFID in the education of Odisha. On the one hand, they talk about Education for All and Million Development Goal (MGD) and on the other hand, they dictate state government for freezing grants-in-aids in education.
A good education system is necessary as it plays a major role in the development of the society and state. A public debate is necessary to prepare a blue print for the education sector in Odisha.
The author works in the field of education. He has written this paper based on the research work done by Prof Abani Kumar Baral on the state education sector. Please feel free to send your comments and suggestions at janatavikasmanch@gmail.com and visit
www.janatavikasmanch.blogspot.com for more details.
Industrialisation in the poor literate Odisha may not help people
By Anil Pradhan
Odisha has been witnessing an inverse fund flow into the industry and primary education sector in the post-liberalisation period. The state government has claimed that it has signed more than sixty MoUs with a cumulative investment of Rs 4 lakh crore. On the contrary, the available data shows that the government has drastically cut the expenditure in the primary education since 1994.
Odisha is one of the backward states on all the parameters. The Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes constitute around 22.13 % and 16.53% respectively of the total population. There are 62 tribal groups in Odisha and 13 of them have been identified as primitive tribes. The literacy among scheduled tribes is low (37.4%) in comparison to the general literacy (63.63%) in the state. Out of the thirty districts, 14 of them have literacy percentage below the state average of 63.61% (2001). Female literacy is also very low - 21.02 % in Nabarangapur, 21.28% in Malkanagiri and 24.81% in Koraput.
Hence, Odisha should be treated separately. Our Prime Minister has rightly emphasised that the real challenge before India is to make the “growth process more socially inclusive and regionally balanced”(The Hindu) . Unless special attention is given to the underdeveloped states like Odisha, India can not develop.
Odisha government does not give preference to education. The state government has no plan for appointing permanent teachers in the elementary schools. The government has recently announced that the teachers will be appointed under contractual basis with a remuneration of Rs. 1,500/- to 2,000/-.
According to the available data, Odisha Government’s expenditure on the elementary education is decreasing:
Year
%of total budget
1994-95
17.41%
1995-96
18.05%
1996-97
17.79%
1997-98
18.69%
1998-99
18.20%
1999-00
20.67%
2000-01
16.06%
2001-02
10.29%
2002-03
12.35%
2003-04
11.83%
2004-05
9.74%
2005-06
8.18%
2006-07
7.49%
(Sikshara Sthiti O’ Dusthiti by Abani Baral, 2007)
With this background of a weak social infrastructure, Odisha government has already signed more than sixty MoUs with the MNCs and mega players. One can imagine the fate of the illiterate people in this process of industrialisation.
Unless government expenditure rises on elementary education, we cannot expect to improve the situation of education in Odisha. However, money alone can not improve the situation of elementary education. Addressing administrative, personnel and other issues alongside accountability system could help us to change the situation.
Community participation, Panchayat Raj institutions and accountability:
If we analyze community participation in education in Odishat, we will find that historically most of the schools and colleges were set up by the community. When community members had a role in the management of the schools, schools were showing better results. However, in some cases, the management was harsh towards teachers. In 1998, all teachers of primary schools and upper primary schools were declared as government servants. During the ninth plan period, 2929 fully-aided secondary schools were taken over by the government. With effect from June 7, 1994, all the fully aided secondary schools have become government schools. After the community became less involved in managing the schools, the performance of the schools began deteriorating day by day. Government has introduced VEC to ensure community participation in school management, but once again it is government driven. It is the head master of the school who decides who will become members of the committee.
The Government of Orissa has transferred 28 items of responsibilities to Gram Panchayats, which include elementary education. As per the law, Gram Panchayat can recommend actions in case of any indiscipline on the part of teachers to the block level committee, but cannot take any action. What is then the use of transferring responsibilities to the Gram Panchayats?
Impact of Sarva Siksha Abhijan
Under Sarva Siksha Abhijan a lot of money is being spent on infrastructure development, teaching learning materials, teachers’ training, surveys and Management Information System. However if there are not appropriate numbers of well motivated teachers in schools, who will translate these concepts in to reality? All district level education officers are administrative officers. They do not take interest in education; rather they are more interested in construction of infrastructure.
Schemes such as DPEP and SSA have done more harm than the good. Teachers are now responsible for handling a lot of money and looking after construction activities, additional responsibilities that came with the implementation of these programmes. People are unaware that the work order is being done in the name of VECs, but in practice, teachers do everything
If the administrative structure will not be changed, accountability will not be ensured at all levels, as spending money through already existing structure which is outdated and rotten is meaning less. Administrative reforms should be a part of planning. People’s capacity should be developed so that they can manage their own affairs including schools.
Quality Education is a myth.
People think that quality education can be ensured if there will be a lot of teaching and learning materials, good pucca building, appointment of permanent teachers, etc. First of all government is not giving any importance to appointing permanent teachers. Secondly, whatever good teachers were there, they are now working as Co-coordinators, BRC and CRC and many have already been corrupted, due to heavy channelling of money under Sarva Siksha Abhijan through them. Teacher and students ratio decreases day by day. Although, various commissions and report have been given much importance on decentralization in developing course curriculum and course materials, nothing has been done to date. Under such circumstances, an expectation of quality education from the government stream is a day dream.
The Important Problems of elementary education can be summarised as follow:
Absence of Education Policy: There is an absence of education policy in many states of India. Educational administration functions chiefly through circulars. Circulars can be changed and altered at any point of time depending on the whims of the ministers and educational administrators concerned. Therefore, there is little accountability at all levels.
Inequalities in Public Spending: There are inequalities in public spending even within a district, between blocks, and within a block between schools, when measured in terms of staff strength and other instructional and infrastructural resources. For example, there appears to be an ironic situation: in urban and semi- urban areas some government schools have too many teachers and too few students; in the less privileged areas/neighbourhoods, in contrast, often one or two teachers have to manage single –or double-headedly large classes and other school related responsibilities. This happens due to lack of a clear-cut policy in the education sector.
Appointment of Teachers: We cannot ignore the role of teacher in ensuring quality education. Education is a low priority area for many state governments. Appointment of teachers is a problem in many states. In almost all cases, state governments are not appointing permanent teachers for primary schools. In case of Orissa, the state government has already appointed thirty thousand teachers on a contractual basis. On October 12th 2006, a notification was issued stating that an additional fifty thousand teachers would be appointed on a contractual basis with remuneration of Rs.2000/- per month. In this context, if pressure will not be built from below, we cannot bring out any qualitative changes in the education sector.
A lot of changes need to be brought about in the selection of teachers, and teachers’ training. In the present context, while selecting candidates for teachers’ training consists of only academic qualifications (not attitude and aptitude) is taken into consideration. This causes serious problems in ensuring quality education.
Education is under the Concurrent List: The 86th constitutional amendment (2002) has declared primary education as a fundamental right. To ensure the fundamental right to education for every child, BJP led NDA government formulated a draft bill titled Free and Compulsory education Bill, 2003. There were a lot of debates over it. When the UPA government was formed at the centre, they brought out many changes in the Free and Compulsory Education bill and renamed it as Right to Education Bill 2005. Again a lot of discussion took place. Finally, during the last parliament session, the UPA government forwarded the draft of Right to Education Bill to all state governments asking them to implement it at their own level. The central Government did not want to shoulder the responsibility of implementing the bill. This will create problems for underdeveloped states like Orissa, Bihar, and Jharkhand etc.
Furthermore since education is under the Concurrent List, it is the shared responsibility of both centre and states. Here, the state governments are not bound to obey the centre’s directives. Therefore, to translate intention into reality, with regard to the National Curriculum Framework prepared by NCERT, is very difficult in the present set up. Unless there is a constitutional amendment that addresses 73rd amendment (Each state government was forced to bring on amendment in their respective Panchayat Raj Act in the light of central act.), it will be extremely difficult to implement the national curriculum framework in the field.
Experience from the field
The state of education in tribal areas is in a deplorable condition. Although, many commissions have been set-up at central level as well as the formulation of many plans and programmes, there is still a vast lacuna in educating tribal people. I have identified certain problems on tribal education as follows:
There is no policy for educating tribal children in Orissa. The Department of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes run residential schools for tribal children. The number of schools run under this department is like a drop in the ocean. Most of the tribal students depend on schools run by the department of Schools and Mass Education. The Schools and Mass Education department has no policy for educating tribal children. Tribals have their own language, culture and life style. While planning educational activities, these languages, cultures and life styles have to be taken in to account. Both the departments who work for educating tribal children have yet to address these issues.
There is a lot of money being spent for education under Sarva Siksha Abhijan through Orissa Primary Education Authority (OPEPA). OPEPA has developed few primers for tribal children and attitudinal trainings have been conducted for teachers who are working in tribal areas. But, what will be fate of this programme after this Sarva Siksha Abhijan programme? OPEPA activities are planned in the whim of State Project Directors. When the Director changes, priorities also change. For example, when the DPEP programme was initiated, there was a section for tribal education. Tribal coordinators were posted at district levels in few tribal districts. In between, priority of the authority had changed and tribal education section was abolished for a few years. Whatever materials developed (primers, training manual) became null and void. Again there is now a section for tribal education and a lot of work is being done under this section. But if there will be no clear cut policy for tribal education what will happen to this work after this programme is over.
The high schools run under the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Department are functioning like any other schools with the exception of adding residential facilities. There is no separate curriculum and activities for tribal children in these schools which will promote and raise their confidence level.
Odisha government should learn from these field experiences and redesign school programmes accordingly for the rural communities. And, the state government should join hands with others state to have an inclusive society with social justice.
The author works in the field of primary education. The comments and suggestions can be sent at janatavikasmanch@gmail.com or more information visit www.janatavikasmanch.blogspot.com
Odisha has been witnessing an inverse fund flow into the industry and primary education sector in the post-liberalisation period. The state government has claimed that it has signed more than sixty MoUs with a cumulative investment of Rs 4 lakh crore. On the contrary, the available data shows that the government has drastically cut the expenditure in the primary education since 1994.
Odisha is one of the backward states on all the parameters. The Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes constitute around 22.13 % and 16.53% respectively of the total population. There are 62 tribal groups in Odisha and 13 of them have been identified as primitive tribes. The literacy among scheduled tribes is low (37.4%) in comparison to the general literacy (63.63%) in the state. Out of the thirty districts, 14 of them have literacy percentage below the state average of 63.61% (2001). Female literacy is also very low - 21.02 % in Nabarangapur, 21.28% in Malkanagiri and 24.81% in Koraput.
Hence, Odisha should be treated separately. Our Prime Minister has rightly emphasised that the real challenge before India is to make the “growth process more socially inclusive and regionally balanced”(The Hindu) . Unless special attention is given to the underdeveloped states like Odisha, India can not develop.
Odisha government does not give preference to education. The state government has no plan for appointing permanent teachers in the elementary schools. The government has recently announced that the teachers will be appointed under contractual basis with a remuneration of Rs. 1,500/- to 2,000/-.
According to the available data, Odisha Government’s expenditure on the elementary education is decreasing:
Year
%of total budget
1994-95
17.41%
1995-96
18.05%
1996-97
17.79%
1997-98
18.69%
1998-99
18.20%
1999-00
20.67%
2000-01
16.06%
2001-02
10.29%
2002-03
12.35%
2003-04
11.83%
2004-05
9.74%
2005-06
8.18%
2006-07
7.49%
(Sikshara Sthiti O’ Dusthiti by Abani Baral, 2007)
With this background of a weak social infrastructure, Odisha government has already signed more than sixty MoUs with the MNCs and mega players. One can imagine the fate of the illiterate people in this process of industrialisation.
Unless government expenditure rises on elementary education, we cannot expect to improve the situation of education in Odisha. However, money alone can not improve the situation of elementary education. Addressing administrative, personnel and other issues alongside accountability system could help us to change the situation.
Community participation, Panchayat Raj institutions and accountability:
If we analyze community participation in education in Odishat, we will find that historically most of the schools and colleges were set up by the community. When community members had a role in the management of the schools, schools were showing better results. However, in some cases, the management was harsh towards teachers. In 1998, all teachers of primary schools and upper primary schools were declared as government servants. During the ninth plan period, 2929 fully-aided secondary schools were taken over by the government. With effect from June 7, 1994, all the fully aided secondary schools have become government schools. After the community became less involved in managing the schools, the performance of the schools began deteriorating day by day. Government has introduced VEC to ensure community participation in school management, but once again it is government driven. It is the head master of the school who decides who will become members of the committee.
The Government of Orissa has transferred 28 items of responsibilities to Gram Panchayats, which include elementary education. As per the law, Gram Panchayat can recommend actions in case of any indiscipline on the part of teachers to the block level committee, but cannot take any action. What is then the use of transferring responsibilities to the Gram Panchayats?
Impact of Sarva Siksha Abhijan
Under Sarva Siksha Abhijan a lot of money is being spent on infrastructure development, teaching learning materials, teachers’ training, surveys and Management Information System. However if there are not appropriate numbers of well motivated teachers in schools, who will translate these concepts in to reality? All district level education officers are administrative officers. They do not take interest in education; rather they are more interested in construction of infrastructure.
Schemes such as DPEP and SSA have done more harm than the good. Teachers are now responsible for handling a lot of money and looking after construction activities, additional responsibilities that came with the implementation of these programmes. People are unaware that the work order is being done in the name of VECs, but in practice, teachers do everything
If the administrative structure will not be changed, accountability will not be ensured at all levels, as spending money through already existing structure which is outdated and rotten is meaning less. Administrative reforms should be a part of planning. People’s capacity should be developed so that they can manage their own affairs including schools.
Quality Education is a myth.
People think that quality education can be ensured if there will be a lot of teaching and learning materials, good pucca building, appointment of permanent teachers, etc. First of all government is not giving any importance to appointing permanent teachers. Secondly, whatever good teachers were there, they are now working as Co-coordinators, BRC and CRC and many have already been corrupted, due to heavy channelling of money under Sarva Siksha Abhijan through them. Teacher and students ratio decreases day by day. Although, various commissions and report have been given much importance on decentralization in developing course curriculum and course materials, nothing has been done to date. Under such circumstances, an expectation of quality education from the government stream is a day dream.
The Important Problems of elementary education can be summarised as follow:
Absence of Education Policy: There is an absence of education policy in many states of India. Educational administration functions chiefly through circulars. Circulars can be changed and altered at any point of time depending on the whims of the ministers and educational administrators concerned. Therefore, there is little accountability at all levels.
Inequalities in Public Spending: There are inequalities in public spending even within a district, between blocks, and within a block between schools, when measured in terms of staff strength and other instructional and infrastructural resources. For example, there appears to be an ironic situation: in urban and semi- urban areas some government schools have too many teachers and too few students; in the less privileged areas/neighbourhoods, in contrast, often one or two teachers have to manage single –or double-headedly large classes and other school related responsibilities. This happens due to lack of a clear-cut policy in the education sector.
Appointment of Teachers: We cannot ignore the role of teacher in ensuring quality education. Education is a low priority area for many state governments. Appointment of teachers is a problem in many states. In almost all cases, state governments are not appointing permanent teachers for primary schools. In case of Orissa, the state government has already appointed thirty thousand teachers on a contractual basis. On October 12th 2006, a notification was issued stating that an additional fifty thousand teachers would be appointed on a contractual basis with remuneration of Rs.2000/- per month. In this context, if pressure will not be built from below, we cannot bring out any qualitative changes in the education sector.
A lot of changes need to be brought about in the selection of teachers, and teachers’ training. In the present context, while selecting candidates for teachers’ training consists of only academic qualifications (not attitude and aptitude) is taken into consideration. This causes serious problems in ensuring quality education.
Education is under the Concurrent List: The 86th constitutional amendment (2002) has declared primary education as a fundamental right. To ensure the fundamental right to education for every child, BJP led NDA government formulated a draft bill titled Free and Compulsory education Bill, 2003. There were a lot of debates over it. When the UPA government was formed at the centre, they brought out many changes in the Free and Compulsory Education bill and renamed it as Right to Education Bill 2005. Again a lot of discussion took place. Finally, during the last parliament session, the UPA government forwarded the draft of Right to Education Bill to all state governments asking them to implement it at their own level. The central Government did not want to shoulder the responsibility of implementing the bill. This will create problems for underdeveloped states like Orissa, Bihar, and Jharkhand etc.
Furthermore since education is under the Concurrent List, it is the shared responsibility of both centre and states. Here, the state governments are not bound to obey the centre’s directives. Therefore, to translate intention into reality, with regard to the National Curriculum Framework prepared by NCERT, is very difficult in the present set up. Unless there is a constitutional amendment that addresses 73rd amendment (Each state government was forced to bring on amendment in their respective Panchayat Raj Act in the light of central act.), it will be extremely difficult to implement the national curriculum framework in the field.
Experience from the field
The state of education in tribal areas is in a deplorable condition. Although, many commissions have been set-up at central level as well as the formulation of many plans and programmes, there is still a vast lacuna in educating tribal people. I have identified certain problems on tribal education as follows:
There is no policy for educating tribal children in Orissa. The Department of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes run residential schools for tribal children. The number of schools run under this department is like a drop in the ocean. Most of the tribal students depend on schools run by the department of Schools and Mass Education. The Schools and Mass Education department has no policy for educating tribal children. Tribals have their own language, culture and life style. While planning educational activities, these languages, cultures and life styles have to be taken in to account. Both the departments who work for educating tribal children have yet to address these issues.
There is a lot of money being spent for education under Sarva Siksha Abhijan through Orissa Primary Education Authority (OPEPA). OPEPA has developed few primers for tribal children and attitudinal trainings have been conducted for teachers who are working in tribal areas. But, what will be fate of this programme after this Sarva Siksha Abhijan programme? OPEPA activities are planned in the whim of State Project Directors. When the Director changes, priorities also change. For example, when the DPEP programme was initiated, there was a section for tribal education. Tribal coordinators were posted at district levels in few tribal districts. In between, priority of the authority had changed and tribal education section was abolished for a few years. Whatever materials developed (primers, training manual) became null and void. Again there is now a section for tribal education and a lot of work is being done under this section. But if there will be no clear cut policy for tribal education what will happen to this work after this programme is over.
The high schools run under the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Department are functioning like any other schools with the exception of adding residential facilities. There is no separate curriculum and activities for tribal children in these schools which will promote and raise their confidence level.
Odisha government should learn from these field experiences and redesign school programmes accordingly for the rural communities. And, the state government should join hands with others state to have an inclusive society with social justice.
The author works in the field of primary education. The comments and suggestions can be sent at janatavikasmanch@gmail.com or more information visit www.janatavikasmanch.blogspot.com
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Rapid industrialisation puts tribal-poor farmers at receiving end
Govt needs to create a win-win situation in an atmosphere of increasing confrontation
By Pravin Patel
The opening of Indian economy since 1991 has widened the gulf between rich and poor. A few, who have access to the corridors of power and know the art of inking MoUs, might have been benefitted from these MoUs in the name of development.Contrary to this, it has hit hard to the poor farmers and tribals. The threat of being displaced is increasing with more and more new areas are being covered in these MoUs that have been signed. No body can deny that there is a raging controversy over diversion of farm land for industrial, mining and other purposes. The need of the hour is to find a please-all solution by addressing the situation in absolute transparent manner by taking the farmers and tribals into confidence. Unfortunately, this is not happening. Land of the poor farmers is inked in the MoUs without taking them into confidence. These poor farmers and tribals come to know of the reality only when the survey team visits them. Forcible land acquisition process has resulted in uniting of the people facing the threat of being displaced.When there is need to ensure that while pursuing the industrialisation, we need to take enough care that no injustice is done, more particularly to the farmers on whose land, the eyes of industrial corporation has fallen. The need is also to have a policy that takes the interest of the land losers and also the industrial corporations. But what happens in reality is that by hook or crook, playing mischief, use of force, committing brutalities, land owners are pushed to the corners. Those who support the genuine demands of the land losers are labelled as anti developmental forces. The people of Odisha have seen bloody scenes in Kashipur and Gopalpur in the past and recently in Kalinga Nagar. One should not be surprised to see newer battle grounds in the future too.A bare look at the MoUs, one will find that the industrial and mining corporations are duty bound to move towards the direction of enriching all segments of the society, but the experience is otherwise. Even there are flaws in the mining as well as industrial policy but in the name of development, it is not being addressed. National Agriculture Policy and also Ministry of Environment says no to the use of farm land for the industrial purpose.Even two most important legal provisions of the Panchayat (Extension of the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 are crucial. Section 4 (d), it is mentioned that: "The community at the village level in the form of Gram Sabha is competent to manage community resources." Section 4(i) says "The Gram Sabha shall be consulted before the acquisition of land and the rehabilitation of the affected people"The fact is that the average size of landholding is so small, that those poor farmers and tribals can not match to counter the powerful industrial corporations to influence the decision makers. The need is to have a better farm policy keeping this faction in mind to improve the economic status of farmers by improving agricultural productivity. The need is to find a long-term solution before we jump in to address the situation in bit and pieces as is being done currently. We should not force the distressed farmers to keep away from agriculture and shift to manufacturing and services and other non-agricultural pursuits, or even become a daily wage earner, which is being witnessed so far.Similarly, the scenario on the water or environment front needs discussion. Steel, Power plant and other industries require large quantities of water. Even after over sixty years of our independence, we have not done enough to irrigate the farm but when the need for industries is there, it takes no time to divert the water from the river or dams. Why this discrepancy? The problem is that the state government works in favour of private companies as if they are their representatives and by openly bulldozing peaceful public dissent, social consensus and people's aspirations, push the people to a point of no-return.Here, the question arises why the farmers should be made sacrificial goats in the name of development? Is it because he is not in a position to bargain or influence the state authorities, the way industrial corporations are believed to manage to buy favours. Why those who make all this sound in the name of investment be asked to make sacrifices? When government dictates terms on farmers and poor, why it fails to act in a similar manner to the defaulting industrial corporations? 3400 Acres of land lost at Behrampur in the year 1988, neither plant has come up nor any employment is created, but state is silent onlooker. Injustice done to the farmers can not be justified.There is a need to look at the realities in the field of agriculture also. The fifth National Economic Survey has stated the fact that during the year 1998 to 2005, employment opportunities in the non-agriculture sector has increased by 25%, where as the work force increased by only 2%., which during the year 1994 to 2000, it was only 1%. The situation in Odisha is worst. The area of concern is that while 73% of our workforce depends on agriculture sector; it contributes only 21-22% to our GDP. Despite the employment rate grew by 7.3% in the years 1970 to 2000, over 26% of the population of country lives below the poverty line. This establishes the fact that despite the increase in the employment opportunities in agro sector, income of the individual or the family has not risen, rather suicides of the farmers has proved that in fact, their economic conditions has worsened. Investment policies have been framed keeping the interest of Capitalists. Despite the net Gross Domestic Product is increasing at the rate of 5% but the rate of employment has gone down to 1.97% but still industrialisation is glorified in the name of creating employment opportunities. After speedy industrialization and rapid economic growth, we have entered in to the era of global recession. Lay offs and job cuts are on increase. We are in a situation where we see ill effects of the neglect of farm sector. The liberalised economy and rapid rate of growth of our economy has failed to address the unemployment problem. With more and more automation and new technologies that drastically reduces man power requirements, we are all set to be trapped in a situation looks dangerous. Considering the preset rate of employment, neglect of our farm sector and looking at 2001 Census, there will be huge battalion of about 20 million unemployed youth in the country by the year 2018. What will happen at that point of time is shear imagination.Situation of Orissa can be worst, as we have large areas of land where there is no irrigation facilities, farmers are in the clutches of illegally operating private money lenders as the banking network in the State is much below the benchmark. The gap between the rich and poor will increase may lead to chaos all around. With proposed labour law reforms, pursued by the industrial lobby that advocates hire and fire policy will add fuel to the fire. All this happening and likely to happen in future too, in a state which is gifted with immense natural wealth. Corruption, inefficiency and political interference have demoralized the honest administrative officers. Author of Orissa's economic growth have failed to improve the plight of the farmers who are also suffering from repeated draughts due to lack of proper irrigation facilities despite huge Dams have been constructed by acquiring land of the poor in the name of providing irrigation and power generation. The water and power in the state is being diverted to the Industrial houses.Agriculture is the way of life for the majority of people in Odisha. Land is fundamental asset and it is a primary source of income, security, status and dignity. Without land, tribals can not survive with dignity. For tribals, land is like their Mother. There are provisions in the Constitution of India that protects the land ownership rights of tribals.Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution are significant in this regard. Attempts are needed to ensure that traditional command of the Adivasi community over resources is honoured; Development in the tribal area takes place with focus on the quality of the life of the Adivasis and development with equity. It is an irony that in the hurry for the so called development, powerful, wealthy and those who can influence the government machinery, systematically but surely have laid their hands on the natural wealth of the state. It is the duty of the state government to practice policies for the welfare of its people and not to behave as the representative of the powerful industrial and mining corporations.There is a crying need to have a state-wide political discussion and debate on the neglect of agriculture sector and formulate policies for a holistic development of Odisha with an equity for all.
The author actively works for the tribal development
By Pravin Patel
The opening of Indian economy since 1991 has widened the gulf between rich and poor. A few, who have access to the corridors of power and know the art of inking MoUs, might have been benefitted from these MoUs in the name of development.Contrary to this, it has hit hard to the poor farmers and tribals. The threat of being displaced is increasing with more and more new areas are being covered in these MoUs that have been signed. No body can deny that there is a raging controversy over diversion of farm land for industrial, mining and other purposes. The need of the hour is to find a please-all solution by addressing the situation in absolute transparent manner by taking the farmers and tribals into confidence. Unfortunately, this is not happening. Land of the poor farmers is inked in the MoUs without taking them into confidence. These poor farmers and tribals come to know of the reality only when the survey team visits them. Forcible land acquisition process has resulted in uniting of the people facing the threat of being displaced.When there is need to ensure that while pursuing the industrialisation, we need to take enough care that no injustice is done, more particularly to the farmers on whose land, the eyes of industrial corporation has fallen. The need is also to have a policy that takes the interest of the land losers and also the industrial corporations. But what happens in reality is that by hook or crook, playing mischief, use of force, committing brutalities, land owners are pushed to the corners. Those who support the genuine demands of the land losers are labelled as anti developmental forces. The people of Odisha have seen bloody scenes in Kashipur and Gopalpur in the past and recently in Kalinga Nagar. One should not be surprised to see newer battle grounds in the future too.A bare look at the MoUs, one will find that the industrial and mining corporations are duty bound to move towards the direction of enriching all segments of the society, but the experience is otherwise. Even there are flaws in the mining as well as industrial policy but in the name of development, it is not being addressed. National Agriculture Policy and also Ministry of Environment says no to the use of farm land for the industrial purpose.Even two most important legal provisions of the Panchayat (Extension of the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 are crucial. Section 4 (d), it is mentioned that: "The community at the village level in the form of Gram Sabha is competent to manage community resources." Section 4(i) says "The Gram Sabha shall be consulted before the acquisition of land and the rehabilitation of the affected people"The fact is that the average size of landholding is so small, that those poor farmers and tribals can not match to counter the powerful industrial corporations to influence the decision makers. The need is to have a better farm policy keeping this faction in mind to improve the economic status of farmers by improving agricultural productivity. The need is to find a long-term solution before we jump in to address the situation in bit and pieces as is being done currently. We should not force the distressed farmers to keep away from agriculture and shift to manufacturing and services and other non-agricultural pursuits, or even become a daily wage earner, which is being witnessed so far.Similarly, the scenario on the water or environment front needs discussion. Steel, Power plant and other industries require large quantities of water. Even after over sixty years of our independence, we have not done enough to irrigate the farm but when the need for industries is there, it takes no time to divert the water from the river or dams. Why this discrepancy? The problem is that the state government works in favour of private companies as if they are their representatives and by openly bulldozing peaceful public dissent, social consensus and people's aspirations, push the people to a point of no-return.Here, the question arises why the farmers should be made sacrificial goats in the name of development? Is it because he is not in a position to bargain or influence the state authorities, the way industrial corporations are believed to manage to buy favours. Why those who make all this sound in the name of investment be asked to make sacrifices? When government dictates terms on farmers and poor, why it fails to act in a similar manner to the defaulting industrial corporations? 3400 Acres of land lost at Behrampur in the year 1988, neither plant has come up nor any employment is created, but state is silent onlooker. Injustice done to the farmers can not be justified.There is a need to look at the realities in the field of agriculture also. The fifth National Economic Survey has stated the fact that during the year 1998 to 2005, employment opportunities in the non-agriculture sector has increased by 25%, where as the work force increased by only 2%., which during the year 1994 to 2000, it was only 1%. The situation in Odisha is worst. The area of concern is that while 73% of our workforce depends on agriculture sector; it contributes only 21-22% to our GDP. Despite the employment rate grew by 7.3% in the years 1970 to 2000, over 26% of the population of country lives below the poverty line. This establishes the fact that despite the increase in the employment opportunities in agro sector, income of the individual or the family has not risen, rather suicides of the farmers has proved that in fact, their economic conditions has worsened. Investment policies have been framed keeping the interest of Capitalists. Despite the net Gross Domestic Product is increasing at the rate of 5% but the rate of employment has gone down to 1.97% but still industrialisation is glorified in the name of creating employment opportunities. After speedy industrialization and rapid economic growth, we have entered in to the era of global recession. Lay offs and job cuts are on increase. We are in a situation where we see ill effects of the neglect of farm sector. The liberalised economy and rapid rate of growth of our economy has failed to address the unemployment problem. With more and more automation and new technologies that drastically reduces man power requirements, we are all set to be trapped in a situation looks dangerous. Considering the preset rate of employment, neglect of our farm sector and looking at 2001 Census, there will be huge battalion of about 20 million unemployed youth in the country by the year 2018. What will happen at that point of time is shear imagination.Situation of Orissa can be worst, as we have large areas of land where there is no irrigation facilities, farmers are in the clutches of illegally operating private money lenders as the banking network in the State is much below the benchmark. The gap between the rich and poor will increase may lead to chaos all around. With proposed labour law reforms, pursued by the industrial lobby that advocates hire and fire policy will add fuel to the fire. All this happening and likely to happen in future too, in a state which is gifted with immense natural wealth. Corruption, inefficiency and political interference have demoralized the honest administrative officers. Author of Orissa's economic growth have failed to improve the plight of the farmers who are also suffering from repeated draughts due to lack of proper irrigation facilities despite huge Dams have been constructed by acquiring land of the poor in the name of providing irrigation and power generation. The water and power in the state is being diverted to the Industrial houses.Agriculture is the way of life for the majority of people in Odisha. Land is fundamental asset and it is a primary source of income, security, status and dignity. Without land, tribals can not survive with dignity. For tribals, land is like their Mother. There are provisions in the Constitution of India that protects the land ownership rights of tribals.Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution are significant in this regard. Attempts are needed to ensure that traditional command of the Adivasi community over resources is honoured; Development in the tribal area takes place with focus on the quality of the life of the Adivasis and development with equity. It is an irony that in the hurry for the so called development, powerful, wealthy and those who can influence the government machinery, systematically but surely have laid their hands on the natural wealth of the state. It is the duty of the state government to practice policies for the welfare of its people and not to behave as the representative of the powerful industrial and mining corporations.There is a crying need to have a state-wide political discussion and debate on the neglect of agriculture sector and formulate policies for a holistic development of Odisha with an equity for all.
The author actively works for the tribal development
Indian railways step-motherly treatment responsible for Odisha's backwardness
By Er. Lalit Patnaik
Odisha has been in news globally for the wrong reasons. Both national and international media has given a wide coverage to the recent Hindu-Christian violence in Kandhamal. But, hardly any news report has drawn the attention of the people that the lack of railway connectivity in this backward region is also one of the main reasons for the intense communal clash. .
The poor tribals and deprived people of Khandhamal have been isolated from the main stream of Odisha because of the lack of connectivity. The district is full of hills and does not have multiple entries and the railway link is absent.
It is important to note that Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation across the globe as it is the cheapest mode of transportation.
However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like Odisha, development of rail network has received much less attention by Union Government in the post- Independence period. This is one of the main reasons for the backwardness of adivasis and other areas of Odisha who are backward partly because of the lack of connectivity and such neglect continue to keep them backward and prevent them from catching up from the mainstream.
Due to lack of connectivity, the locals could not intermingle with out side world and hence the social transformation could not take place. And also their products could not be transported easily and hence got less value for the same. Only the traders from out side world went inside Khandhamal and looted the tribal's of their produce at much less market price. In Khandhamal, the tribal population is 51.51 % and the scheduled caste is 18.21 %.
Therefore, the demand is gaining momentum for a rail line connecting Lanjigarah to Phulabani to Angul that will bisect Khandhamal region & also the up coming Khurdha – Bolangir rail line so as to serve as a bypass link between Bhubaneswar to Koraput zone. And people inside Khandhamal will have access to Indian rail network. The rate of return (RoR) from this rail line will be much more than 14 %, which is required by Railway Board to sanction a new rail line. The rail link will shorten the distance between the coal center in Angul and Bauxite Mine center in Koraput by more than 100 KM. The largest aluminum company NALCO at Angul sends coal to it's refinery plant in Koraput and brings back alumina to Angul and this shortening of distance will reduce the time consumed for the transportation and will enhance it's ROR. Other aluminum company like RSB, Vedanta and Hindalco will follow the suite and the new line via Khandhamal will earn more than 20 % of RoR.
Besides transportation by the major industries, other goods to Raygada, Koraput,Malkangiri, Kalahandi, Nuapada will pass through this line via Khurdha as it will be shorter by more than 200 KM than the rail link through Andhra Pradesh.
Blue print on railway network expansion in Odisha
Prof Chitta Baral of Arizona University ( USA) has done an extensive-intensive study on the need of the expansion of the rail network in Odisha. He has been educating policy makers and public in general about the importance of a good rail network. He has documented the current railway scenario in Odisha and prepared a blueprint for its expansion in the state which is mentioned in detail in the following paragraphs.
According to Prof Chitta Baral, the map of India clearly shows that the Odisha has a low rail density. A big part of the low density region in Odisha is located in KBK and Kandhamal districts.
The question arises why rail connectivity is important for any region? The Planning Commission addresses this as follows:
"Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation in all parts of the globe. It is one of the key economic infrastructures. However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like Orissa, development of rail networks has received much less attention of the Central Government in the post-independence period. There are as many as seven districts like Boudh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur out of the 30 districts of the state, which do not have any railway line passing through them. In the year 1998-99, the density of railway route length per 1000 sq. km of area in Orissa was only 15.03 km as against 42.66 km in West Bengal and 19.11 km. at all-India level".
Consistent with the above report, the KBK and Kandhamala districts are among the most backward districts of the country. They are also Naxalite infested, have high tribal population and lack connectivity. In essence, they are another frontier of India like Jammum & Kashmir and the Northeast. It is very unfortunately that they are an overlooked frontier.
So, if the above is well-known why does not Indian Railways bring connectivity to KBK and Kandhamal. Indian Railways often cite the lack of profitability issue. But Indian Railway does build and plans to build unprofitable lines in J & K and North East. Also, their planned gauge conversion of 12,000 KMs involves a lot of unprofitable lines.
On the other hand Indian Railways makes a lot of profit from its operations in Odisha. The following table shows the profit Indian Railways projects to make from Odisha during 2008-09.
Total
Route kms
Route
Kms in Odisha
Total estimated Profit in 08-09 (in crores)
Odisha's portion of the profit/year –
calculated by proportional method (in crores)
ECOR3
2430
1607
3077.15
2034.97
SECR
1599
51
2529.89
80.69 (would be much more if calculated more accurately, as the 51 kms of SECR in Odisha covers the Ib valley, a major coal mining area)
SER
2577
589
2467.88
564.06 (would be much more if calculated more accurately, as the 589 kms of SER covers a lot of mines in the Keonjhar district)
2247
2679.72 crores
Prof Baral explains that the expansion of the rail connectivity is very important for the development of Odisha. Indian Railways earn lot of revenue and profit from Odisha, mostly by transporting minerals. Yet, rail density is among the lowest in states like Odisha and Chattisgarh. In essence, Indian Railways continue to be an exploiter of Odisha and Chhatisgarh and partly responsible for the backwardness of several districts of Odisha like KBK. This exploitation of Odisha and Chhatisgarh by IR must STOP!
Moreover, Odisha is being left out of several high profile and high budget railway initiatives of the 11th plan such as the first two freight corridors, metros and high speed rail lines.
Thus, it is imperative that Indian Railways add connectivity to the Kandhamala and KBK districts of Odisha on a war footing and in a time bound manner similar to efforts being made in J & K and the Northeast. In particular the following three lines must be completed within five years.
(I) The Kandhamal-KBK line: Bhadrachalam Road (Andhra) – Malkangiri- Jeypore – Junagarh – Lanjigarh Rd – across Kandhamal District –
(II) Khurda Road – Balangir line
(III) Talcher – Bimlagarh
This will lead to the following network structure and the gap in the middle will vanish.
To fund these three and all the other lines in Odisha, all that is needed is that the Railway earns profits from Odisha should be invested in Odisha the next five years. This will come to Rs 12,500 crores in five years, which is 5% of the Rs 2,51,000 crores proposed budget of Indian Railways for the 11th plan.
In response to the above mentioned request, the Railway board chairperson Mr. Kalyan Jena said that one cannot say that the profit from a state should go to that state, as with this logic Mumbai will claim that all the taxes generated from Mumbai go to Mumbai. Then the rest of the country would lose.
We agree with the general principle behind Mr. Jena's argument. Redistribution of resources across various regions of a country is normal and often necessary. But, Mr. Jena should know that in a welfare state the government takes from the rich and gives to the poor. Ironically, in case of Odisha, Indian Railways is doing reverse. Indian Railways is earning from the minerally rich but poor state like Odisha and diverting the same resources to rich metros like Mumbai and New Delhi and other states, where freight corridors, high speed rail and metro rail are being built.
To conclude, Indian Railways should pump more money in developing rail network in the backward regions in Odisha. It can certainly recover its investments and offer profits in the long run. Indian Railways should finish Kandhamal-KBK line and the Khurda Balangir line in the next five years.
The author is active in mobilizing public opinion on the expansion of railway network in Odisha.
Odisha has been in news globally for the wrong reasons. Both national and international media has given a wide coverage to the recent Hindu-Christian violence in Kandhamal. But, hardly any news report has drawn the attention of the people that the lack of railway connectivity in this backward region is also one of the main reasons for the intense communal clash. .
The poor tribals and deprived people of Khandhamal have been isolated from the main stream of Odisha because of the lack of connectivity. The district is full of hills and does not have multiple entries and the railway link is absent.
It is important to note that Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation across the globe as it is the cheapest mode of transportation.
However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like Odisha, development of rail network has received much less attention by Union Government in the post- Independence period. This is one of the main reasons for the backwardness of adivasis and other areas of Odisha who are backward partly because of the lack of connectivity and such neglect continue to keep them backward and prevent them from catching up from the mainstream.
Due to lack of connectivity, the locals could not intermingle with out side world and hence the social transformation could not take place. And also their products could not be transported easily and hence got less value for the same. Only the traders from out side world went inside Khandhamal and looted the tribal's of their produce at much less market price. In Khandhamal, the tribal population is 51.51 % and the scheduled caste is 18.21 %.
Therefore, the demand is gaining momentum for a rail line connecting Lanjigarah to Phulabani to Angul that will bisect Khandhamal region & also the up coming Khurdha – Bolangir rail line so as to serve as a bypass link between Bhubaneswar to Koraput zone. And people inside Khandhamal will have access to Indian rail network. The rate of return (RoR) from this rail line will be much more than 14 %, which is required by Railway Board to sanction a new rail line. The rail link will shorten the distance between the coal center in Angul and Bauxite Mine center in Koraput by more than 100 KM. The largest aluminum company NALCO at Angul sends coal to it's refinery plant in Koraput and brings back alumina to Angul and this shortening of distance will reduce the time consumed for the transportation and will enhance it's ROR. Other aluminum company like RSB, Vedanta and Hindalco will follow the suite and the new line via Khandhamal will earn more than 20 % of RoR.
Besides transportation by the major industries, other goods to Raygada, Koraput,Malkangiri, Kalahandi, Nuapada will pass through this line via Khurdha as it will be shorter by more than 200 KM than the rail link through Andhra Pradesh.
Blue print on railway network expansion in Odisha
Prof Chitta Baral of Arizona University ( USA) has done an extensive-intensive study on the need of the expansion of the rail network in Odisha. He has been educating policy makers and public in general about the importance of a good rail network. He has documented the current railway scenario in Odisha and prepared a blueprint for its expansion in the state which is mentioned in detail in the following paragraphs.
According to Prof Chitta Baral, the map of India clearly shows that the Odisha has a low rail density. A big part of the low density region in Odisha is located in KBK and Kandhamal districts.
The question arises why rail connectivity is important for any region? The Planning Commission addresses this as follows:
"Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation in all parts of the globe. It is one of the key economic infrastructures. However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like Orissa, development of rail networks has received much less attention of the Central Government in the post-independence period. There are as many as seven districts like Boudh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur out of the 30 districts of the state, which do not have any railway line passing through them. In the year 1998-99, the density of railway route length per 1000 sq. km of area in Orissa was only 15.03 km as against 42.66 km in West Bengal and 19.11 km. at all-India level".
Consistent with the above report, the KBK and Kandhamala districts are among the most backward districts of the country. They are also Naxalite infested, have high tribal population and lack connectivity. In essence, they are another frontier of India like Jammum & Kashmir and the Northeast. It is very unfortunately that they are an overlooked frontier.
So, if the above is well-known why does not Indian Railways bring connectivity to KBK and Kandhamal. Indian Railways often cite the lack of profitability issue. But Indian Railway does build and plans to build unprofitable lines in J & K and North East. Also, their planned gauge conversion of 12,000 KMs involves a lot of unprofitable lines.
On the other hand Indian Railways makes a lot of profit from its operations in Odisha. The following table shows the profit Indian Railways projects to make from Odisha during 2008-09.
Total
Route kms
Route
Kms in Odisha
Total estimated Profit in 08-09 (in crores)
Odisha's portion of the profit/year –
calculated by proportional method (in crores)
ECOR3
2430
1607
3077.15
2034.97
SECR
1599
51
2529.89
80.69 (would be much more if calculated more accurately, as the 51 kms of SECR in Odisha covers the Ib valley, a major coal mining area)
SER
2577
589
2467.88
564.06 (would be much more if calculated more accurately, as the 589 kms of SER covers a lot of mines in the Keonjhar district)
2247
2679.72 crores
Prof Baral explains that the expansion of the rail connectivity is very important for the development of Odisha. Indian Railways earn lot of revenue and profit from Odisha, mostly by transporting minerals. Yet, rail density is among the lowest in states like Odisha and Chattisgarh. In essence, Indian Railways continue to be an exploiter of Odisha and Chhatisgarh and partly responsible for the backwardness of several districts of Odisha like KBK. This exploitation of Odisha and Chhatisgarh by IR must STOP!
Moreover, Odisha is being left out of several high profile and high budget railway initiatives of the 11th plan such as the first two freight corridors, metros and high speed rail lines.
Thus, it is imperative that Indian Railways add connectivity to the Kandhamala and KBK districts of Odisha on a war footing and in a time bound manner similar to efforts being made in J & K and the Northeast. In particular the following three lines must be completed within five years.
(I) The Kandhamal-KBK line: Bhadrachalam Road (Andhra) – Malkangiri- Jeypore – Junagarh – Lanjigarh Rd – across Kandhamal District –
(II) Khurda Road – Balangir line
(III) Talcher – Bimlagarh
This will lead to the following network structure and the gap in the middle will vanish.
To fund these three and all the other lines in Odisha, all that is needed is that the Railway earns profits from Odisha should be invested in Odisha the next five years. This will come to Rs 12,500 crores in five years, which is 5% of the Rs 2,51,000 crores proposed budget of Indian Railways for the 11th plan.
In response to the above mentioned request, the Railway board chairperson Mr. Kalyan Jena said that one cannot say that the profit from a state should go to that state, as with this logic Mumbai will claim that all the taxes generated from Mumbai go to Mumbai. Then the rest of the country would lose.
We agree with the general principle behind Mr. Jena's argument. Redistribution of resources across various regions of a country is normal and often necessary. But, Mr. Jena should know that in a welfare state the government takes from the rich and gives to the poor. Ironically, in case of Odisha, Indian Railways is doing reverse. Indian Railways is earning from the minerally rich but poor state like Odisha and diverting the same resources to rich metros like Mumbai and New Delhi and other states, where freight corridors, high speed rail and metro rail are being built.
To conclude, Indian Railways should pump more money in developing rail network in the backward regions in Odisha. It can certainly recover its investments and offer profits in the long run. Indian Railways should finish Kandhamal-KBK line and the Khurda Balangir line in the next five years.
The author is active in mobilizing public opinion on the expansion of railway network in Odisha.
Meltdown a wake-up call for Odisha to re-strategise its industrial policy
By Sai Prasan
The global recession has hit hard all the economies. India is also not untouched with this recession which is considered worst than 1929 depression. The slow down in the industrial production and the job-cuts have become order of the day in India too. Even Odisha's finance minister confessed last month in public that the global meltdown is expected to choke the revenue stream of the state.
The role of state is being extensively debated following the financial tsunami in US. After the disintegration of Soviet Union, India had also introduced the new economic policy in 1991 which aimed at minimising the state's participation in the production process. The economic reforms have witnessed the closure of a large number of State-owned PSUs and the private sector including MNCs which have grown up since then.
In this context, the industrial policy of Odisha should be reviewed and renewed to tune itself to meet the challenges of globalization in the year 2009. The 18-year old adolescent economic reforms have impacted the industrial scenario of Odisha too. The high capital and technology intensive based private sector and MNCs have made the State owned PSUs uncompetitive in the state.
According to the state economic survey for the year 2007-08, only 32 state owned companies are working out of the total number of 66. The total work force in the organized sector has come down from 7.98 lakhs in 2000 to 7.41 lakhs in 2006.
It is important to note here that the sub-prime crisis leading to the US financial turmoil has once again stressed the role of the State in the developmental process. The financial services companies like Lehman Brothers have gone bankrupt. And, the financial health of Merrill Lynch, AIG and automobile sector is also in doldrums. The unemployment rate is record high in USA. This economic situation has forced the US government to come out with a bail out package of $ 700 billion dollars (thirty three lakh crore rupees) to save some of these companies. And, the government is contemplating to come out with another round/s of bail out package/s.
This kind of economic downturn can be a good case study for a state like Odisha. This is the right time for both the people and government of Odisha to have an in-depth study whether the proposed 60 MoUs including POSCO, Vedanta and Tata Steel project in Kalinga Nagar will benefit the people of the state or they will be in loss at the end of the day. The Profit and Loss (P&L) account of these projects should be calculated. The state officials conceded recently that the Rs 52,000 crore Posco project may likely to generate 4,000 to 5,000 jobs. However, the officials claim that the allied industries of Posco – small and medium units – have the potential to generate lot of jobs.
However, the people of the state have already registered a violent resistance to these projects as a large number of poor and marginal farmers and tribals have been displaced due to these industrial projects. The tribals of Kalinga Nagar also re-iterated their opposition to the Kalinga Nagar's Tata Steel project early this month.
Here, Odisha can take a leaf from the Enron led DPC project in Maharashtra. The Rs 13,000 crore power project re-negotiated in 1995 faced several challenges. Out of this Rs 13,000 crore, around Rs 6,500 crore was the debt component of Indian financial institutions led by IDBI. The project was offered guarantee and counter-guarantee from Maharashtra government and Centre respectively which had created lot of problems both for Maharashtra government and the Centre.
It was evident that the state bureaucracy could not understand while signing the complex Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in 1992. The dollar linkages with the total cost of the project and the fuel prices were the two main reasons for making the power project unviable.
The project is now operational with some or other technical operational problems arising now and them.
Hence, it is a challenge for the government to safeguard its own industry from getting further affected due to the opening of the economy. The state government claims to sign 100 MoUs. But, it must be very careful while entering into any MoU with any MNC. The government machinery must take the advice of the professionals in accounting and in legal sector while giving a final shape to the project.
Moreover, the plan outlay of Orissa was only around Rs 7,500 crore for the current financial year. The state should ensure that these MNCs like Posco should not dictate terms to the government. Rather, it should be the other way around.
Way Forward
1. Orissa government may resolve the problems it is facing in projects like Posco, Tata's Kalinga Nagar project and Vedanta on the following lines:
A. It should take the people of the area into confidence and democratically sort out the issues in a transparent manner. It may hold referendum too, if necessary, to seek public opinion in the project effected areas.
B. Only paying the compensation to the people against their land and offering them jobs may not be enough. Apart from this, the state government can explore other options too. The valuation of the land can be done. And, a portion of the value of the cost of the land can be converted into equity which can also make the land owners shareholders / stakeholders in the project. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) can be created for this purpose.
C. The government should also ensure a percent (may be 50%) of the jobs across the board to be reserved for the locals of Orissa.
2. The state industrial policy can emphasize on how to attract capital from the people of Odisha origin living outside the state to invest back at home in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector for the purpose of employment generation.
3. The state has a lot of scope to develop agro and forest industry. The development of the cold storage and the soft skills like honey-harvesting can be encouraged as a SME sector.
4. Odisha has a long marine /coast line. Fisheries and other similar coast related means can be developed as a SME sector.
5. The use of cycle is still more popular in Odisha compared to any other mode of transport. Hence, cycle industry can also be set up. Similarly, other SME sectors like foot-ware (chappal) industry can be encouraged.
6. Orissa has a natural beauty which is attractive. The tourism sector has the potential to develop it as an industry both for the tourists as well as Bollywood and film industry which can provide employment and generate revenue for the state.
7. Similarly, if Andhra Pradesh government can develop Tirupathi Temple and Maharashtra can focus on Shiradi, then Orissa government can also develop Jagannath Temple on similar lines.
8. The globalization has hit the deprived section of society the most in terms of jobs. The state government should ensure that the SC & ST population consisting of 40% of the population get proper facilities for starting their venture. The government should direct even the private professional institutes to reserve seats for this category and financial arrangement should be made to take care of their fees.
9. Taking a cue from states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Punjab, Orissa government, along with the private sector, should educate youth telling that the self-employment is the order of the day. They can also be job-providers by adopting SME model. The educated youth must be motivated to learn English and basics of IT which is a must for the development of the human resources in the state.
10. The people oriented industrialization requires mass education. The Dalits, Tribals, minorities and women should be given proper education so that they can understand how to participate in the industrial-developmental process.
Conclusion Orissa government should take proper steps to develop infrastructure – roads, ports and railways. It should also ask the Union finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to expand the banking network which is very important for the development of the industry. The people living in all the 314 blocks should get information on the real time basis, on the lines of Gujarat, Maharashtra and southern states including Andhra Pradesh, on the developmental related issues.
The government can launch an awareness campaign among Odisha people living within and outside the country to invest their money on the Public-Private Partnership (PPA) model for the development of their home-state. They can also be encouraged to invest as an independent entity. A co-ordinated determined action with a five-year time framework can change the face of Odisha.
The author is a senior journalist
The global recession has hit hard all the economies. India is also not untouched with this recession which is considered worst than 1929 depression. The slow down in the industrial production and the job-cuts have become order of the day in India too. Even Odisha's finance minister confessed last month in public that the global meltdown is expected to choke the revenue stream of the state.
The role of state is being extensively debated following the financial tsunami in US. After the disintegration of Soviet Union, India had also introduced the new economic policy in 1991 which aimed at minimising the state's participation in the production process. The economic reforms have witnessed the closure of a large number of State-owned PSUs and the private sector including MNCs which have grown up since then.
In this context, the industrial policy of Odisha should be reviewed and renewed to tune itself to meet the challenges of globalization in the year 2009. The 18-year old adolescent economic reforms have impacted the industrial scenario of Odisha too. The high capital and technology intensive based private sector and MNCs have made the State owned PSUs uncompetitive in the state.
According to the state economic survey for the year 2007-08, only 32 state owned companies are working out of the total number of 66. The total work force in the organized sector has come down from 7.98 lakhs in 2000 to 7.41 lakhs in 2006.
It is important to note here that the sub-prime crisis leading to the US financial turmoil has once again stressed the role of the State in the developmental process. The financial services companies like Lehman Brothers have gone bankrupt. And, the financial health of Merrill Lynch, AIG and automobile sector is also in doldrums. The unemployment rate is record high in USA. This economic situation has forced the US government to come out with a bail out package of $ 700 billion dollars (thirty three lakh crore rupees) to save some of these companies. And, the government is contemplating to come out with another round/s of bail out package/s.
This kind of economic downturn can be a good case study for a state like Odisha. This is the right time for both the people and government of Odisha to have an in-depth study whether the proposed 60 MoUs including POSCO, Vedanta and Tata Steel project in Kalinga Nagar will benefit the people of the state or they will be in loss at the end of the day. The Profit and Loss (P&L) account of these projects should be calculated. The state officials conceded recently that the Rs 52,000 crore Posco project may likely to generate 4,000 to 5,000 jobs. However, the officials claim that the allied industries of Posco – small and medium units – have the potential to generate lot of jobs.
However, the people of the state have already registered a violent resistance to these projects as a large number of poor and marginal farmers and tribals have been displaced due to these industrial projects. The tribals of Kalinga Nagar also re-iterated their opposition to the Kalinga Nagar's Tata Steel project early this month.
Here, Odisha can take a leaf from the Enron led DPC project in Maharashtra. The Rs 13,000 crore power project re-negotiated in 1995 faced several challenges. Out of this Rs 13,000 crore, around Rs 6,500 crore was the debt component of Indian financial institutions led by IDBI. The project was offered guarantee and counter-guarantee from Maharashtra government and Centre respectively which had created lot of problems both for Maharashtra government and the Centre.
It was evident that the state bureaucracy could not understand while signing the complex Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in 1992. The dollar linkages with the total cost of the project and the fuel prices were the two main reasons for making the power project unviable.
The project is now operational with some or other technical operational problems arising now and them.
Hence, it is a challenge for the government to safeguard its own industry from getting further affected due to the opening of the economy. The state government claims to sign 100 MoUs. But, it must be very careful while entering into any MoU with any MNC. The government machinery must take the advice of the professionals in accounting and in legal sector while giving a final shape to the project.
Moreover, the plan outlay of Orissa was only around Rs 7,500 crore for the current financial year. The state should ensure that these MNCs like Posco should not dictate terms to the government. Rather, it should be the other way around.
Way Forward
1. Orissa government may resolve the problems it is facing in projects like Posco, Tata's Kalinga Nagar project and Vedanta on the following lines:
A. It should take the people of the area into confidence and democratically sort out the issues in a transparent manner. It may hold referendum too, if necessary, to seek public opinion in the project effected areas.
B. Only paying the compensation to the people against their land and offering them jobs may not be enough. Apart from this, the state government can explore other options too. The valuation of the land can be done. And, a portion of the value of the cost of the land can be converted into equity which can also make the land owners shareholders / stakeholders in the project. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) can be created for this purpose.
C. The government should also ensure a percent (may be 50%) of the jobs across the board to be reserved for the locals of Orissa.
2. The state industrial policy can emphasize on how to attract capital from the people of Odisha origin living outside the state to invest back at home in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector for the purpose of employment generation.
3. The state has a lot of scope to develop agro and forest industry. The development of the cold storage and the soft skills like honey-harvesting can be encouraged as a SME sector.
4. Odisha has a long marine /coast line. Fisheries and other similar coast related means can be developed as a SME sector.
5. The use of cycle is still more popular in Odisha compared to any other mode of transport. Hence, cycle industry can also be set up. Similarly, other SME sectors like foot-ware (chappal) industry can be encouraged.
6. Orissa has a natural beauty which is attractive. The tourism sector has the potential to develop it as an industry both for the tourists as well as Bollywood and film industry which can provide employment and generate revenue for the state.
7. Similarly, if Andhra Pradesh government can develop Tirupathi Temple and Maharashtra can focus on Shiradi, then Orissa government can also develop Jagannath Temple on similar lines.
8. The globalization has hit the deprived section of society the most in terms of jobs. The state government should ensure that the SC & ST population consisting of 40% of the population get proper facilities for starting their venture. The government should direct even the private professional institutes to reserve seats for this category and financial arrangement should be made to take care of their fees.
9. Taking a cue from states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Punjab, Orissa government, along with the private sector, should educate youth telling that the self-employment is the order of the day. They can also be job-providers by adopting SME model. The educated youth must be motivated to learn English and basics of IT which is a must for the development of the human resources in the state.
10. The people oriented industrialization requires mass education. The Dalits, Tribals, minorities and women should be given proper education so that they can understand how to participate in the industrial-developmental process.
Conclusion Orissa government should take proper steps to develop infrastructure – roads, ports and railways. It should also ask the Union finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to expand the banking network which is very important for the development of the industry. The people living in all the 314 blocks should get information on the real time basis, on the lines of Gujarat, Maharashtra and southern states including Andhra Pradesh, on the developmental related issues.
The government can launch an awareness campaign among Odisha people living within and outside the country to invest their money on the Public-Private Partnership (PPA) model for the development of their home-state. They can also be encouraged to invest as an independent entity. A co-ordinated determined action with a five-year time framework can change the face of Odisha.
The author is a senior journalist
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