___________

Update: SAIL RSP has now agreed to consider upgrading IGH (Ispat general Hospital) to a medical college. All that was needed was the CM asking for it. The Odia papers suggest that he already agreed. If this works out then the 4 public sectors MCL, NTPC, NALCO and SAIL will each be making medical colleges at Talcher, Sundergarh, Koraput and Rourkela respectively.

If the IGH upgradation happens it will be the second medical college in Rourkela. (Note that HiTech medical college is now operational in Rourkela and has taken the first batch of MBBS students.) When the NTPC medical college is made in Sundergarh, the medical college count in that district will then go to 3.

Next Odisha government must push the other companies that heavily use Odisha minerals to contribute at the similar level. The TATAs who have mining in Odisha for more than 100 years should be told to establish medical colleges in Joda-Barbil and Sukinda-Kalinganagar and do much more.

Following are some of the projects that are in progress as collected from various media reports.

• NALCO has agreed to build a medical college at Koraput. A few days back (I think sometime in June 2012) the state government decided to ask NALCO for this and this was in the media around July 3rd. The NALCO officials met the concerned government officials on July 5th and NALCO immediately agreed to this proposal. In the past the public sectors MCL and NTPC had agreed to establish medical colleges in Talcher and Sundergarh respectively. Odisha now must push SAIL for a medical college in Rourkela.
• As per this Times of India report: "New Delhi-based OSL Group’s Centre for Joint Disorders will established a 150-seat medical college, 750-bed super-speciality hospital, a dental college and a nursing college in Bhubaneswar. The group has promised to start work within two months…"
• As per this Times of India report: "The upcoming Sardar Rajas medical college and hospital at Jaring in Kalahandi district, being established by Selvam Education and Charitable Trust of Tamil Nadu, will start admitting students from the next academic year …"
• As per this Times of India report: "The sDFID of UK has been preparing a report to facilitate a medical college in Balangir. "
• As per this Times of India report: "land transfer work for the proposed medical college by Sahyog Foundation in Keonjhar will be fast-tracked"
• As per this Times of India report: "the government would soon examine the proposals of Basantidevi Charitable Trust and Bidyabharti Charitable Trust as well to open a medical college in Rayagada."
• As per this Times of India report: "The government has also agreed in principle to a proposal from Shankar Netralaya of Chennai to start a 200-bed eye hospital in Berhampur."
• As per this Times of India report: "The government on Tuesday asked Bangalore-based Narayana Hrudayalaya, which has taken land from the state government to establish a super-speciality hospital in Bhubaneswar, or start work or return the land. The group assured to start work by September.
• As per this article in Business Standard: " Odisha government today asked the Centre to set up a National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Science (NIMHANS) besides expediting establishment of a para-medical training institute in the state."
• As per this article in Telegraph: "The Acharya Harihar Cancer Institute at Cuttack will be upgraded and seats along with number of employees will be enhanced, said Union Health Secretary Prasanna Kumar Pradhan while attending a review meeting here on Sunday. It will be an apex institute in the country, Pradhan added. In the review meeting, Pradhan said Rs 200 crore would be sanctioned during the 12th Five-Year Plan to upgrade this premier cancer treatment institute of the State. Now the institute has 320 beds which will be increased to 600, he added."
• As per this article in Times of India: "the minister also asked the Union health secretary to expedite process for establishment of the proposed Regional Institute of Paramedical Sciences (RIPS). The state government has already given around 25 acre land for the paramedical institute near the AIIMS."
• As per this article in Times of India: "The state government sought financial assistance for infrastructure development of the three medical colleges to increase the MBBS seat strength from the current 150 to 250 each."
• As per this article in Times of India: "The government also submitted a proposal to create super-speciality disciplines in VSS Medical College and Hospital, Burla and MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur. The government has sought central assistance of Rs 150 crore each for superspeciality faculty in the two hospitals."
• As per this article in Times of India: "Acharya requested the Union health secretary to upgrade the geriatric ward of SCB Medical College and Hospital into a Regional Geriatric centre. Designating a regional centre will attract better central funding, Acharya said. "

A good news and a bad news:

• Good News: Hi-Tech medical college in Rourkela has got approval to admit 100 students fro this academic year. This will be the 4th private medical college (and the first outside of Bhubaneswar) in operation in Odisha.
• Bad News: KIMS Bhubaneswar has been debarred to admit students for two year.

Following are excerpts from a report in Business Standard.

The Orissa government has urged the Centre to develop Digha-Talsari tourism circuit to attract more tourists to these locations. It is proposed to be developed in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

Since the state government has already identified 700 acres of land for the project, the state has urged the Union ministry of tourism to initiate measure for the development of this circuit.

It figured in the discussion of the chief minister Naveen Patnaik with the visiting Union minister of state for tourism, Sultan Ahmad in the state secretariat today.

Ahmad is reported to have agreed to provide Central support for the international convention centre being planned in Bhubaneswar.

“The chief minister has proposed the setting up an international convention centre to attract tourists to Orissa. We will consider the proposal”, Ahmad told the media after meeting Patnaik.

… On the extension of the ‘Maharaja Express Classical India’ train to Bhubaneswar, the minister said, the ministry would consider and hold discussion on it after the state government sends its proposal.

…  Since the existing packaging of the train is for 12 days and 11 nights, it can come from Delhi via Bodhgaya-Kolkata to Bhubaneswar by extending the package to 12 days and 12 nights.

Similarly, the state government has sought the conversion of the status of Food Craft Institute at Bolangir into an Indian Institute of Health Hotel Management (IIHM). The state government would provide additional land for it. Besides, the government has also urged the Centre to set up a IIHM at Rourkela, Mishra added.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Expressbuzz.com.

Minister of State (independent charge) for Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Sarada Prasad Nayak today outlined his plans for all-round development of his home city Rourkela by including it in the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP).

Addressing mediapersons here, Nayak spoke about formation of greater Rourkela by including suburban pockets like Kalunga, Vedvyas and Fertiliser Township under the Central Government funded CDP. He said if everything goes as expected, in three years the Steel City would get a facelift with a fresh sewerage system, solid waste management project and rehabilitation of slum-dwellers on a 30-acre land. …

Chief Minister

Naveen Patnaik:  Home, General Admin., Water Resources, Works, Forest and Environment

Cabinet Ministers
Prafulla Chandra Ghadai: Finance, Excise
Damodar Rout: Agriculture, Cooperation, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development
Raghunath Mohanty: Industries, Steel and Mines, Parliamentary Affairs
A.U. Singh Deo: Planning and Coordination, Public Enterprises
Prasanna Acharya: Health and Family Welfare, Public Grievances and Pension Administration
Pramila Mallik: Women and Child Development
Debi Prasad Mishra: Higher Education, Tourism, Culture
Surjya Narayan Patro: Revenue and Disaster Management
Prafulla Samal: Panchayati Raj, Information and PR
Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha: ST and SC Development
Bikram Keshari Arukh: Rural Development, Law

Ministers of State
Sanjib Sahoo: Commerce and Transport
Badrinarayan Patra: Housing and Urban Development
Anjali Behera: Textiles and Handloom
Pratap Jena: School and Mass Education
Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak: Energy
Sarada Prasad Nayak: Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare
Pushpendra Singhdeo: Labour and Employment
Ramesh Chandra Majhi: Information Technology, Science and Technology
Praveen Chandra Bhanja Deo: Sports & Youth Affairs, Revenue and Disaster Management

Economic times reports that Orissa is among the fiscally best performing states this year. It is 3rd in the list following Haryana and Delhi. Excerpts:

“When it comes to financial health Haryana, Delhi, Orissa are the best performing states in the country, while Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala need to cut both fiscal and revenue deficits, an Assocham study has shown.

Haryana had the minimum fiscal deficit of 0.6 per cent in financial year 2006-07, though marginally up from 0.3 per cent in the previous year. Delhi was at the second spot with 0.7 per cent fiscal deficit while its revenue account showed a surplus of 3.57 per cent.

Though Orissa recorded the fiscal deficit of 1.1 per cent in FY’07, higher than 0.4 per cent in FY’06, it managed to remain well under the three per cent figure as recommended by the 12th Finance Commission. Its revenue surplus has increased from 0.76 per cent to 0.9 per cent during the same period.

Gujarat (2.5 per cent), Chhattisgarh (2.6 per cent), Tamil Nadu (2.7 per cent) and Karnataka (2.8 per cent) are the other states which have been able to keep their expenditures in the financial year 2006-07 in line with the target of 3 per cent fiscal deficit. “

Following is a big excerpt from a Telegraph report.

Naveen Patnaik today insisted on the correction of regional imbalance in the country.

“National integration cannot be complete unless there is equitable growth,” he said, while participating in the deliberations of the sub-committee of National Integration Council at New Delhi today.

Historically, the eastern region has not been able to develop as fast as some of the other regions of the country. Enormous resources are required to improve the infrastructure of this region in the form of roads, railways, ports and power.

Without such infrastructure this region cannot attract the kind of investment that would be required for a holistic growth of the national economy, argued Patnaik.

“This may ultimately lead to marginalisation of these regions which would be detrimental to national integration,” he said.

The committee accepted his suggestion and agreed to include this as an agenda of the meeting of the National Integration Council that is going to take place shortly. Naveen also observed that it is equally important to develop human resource of the backward region for the people of those areas to reap the benefits of economic growth. He stressed the need for enrichment of the social capital of the states.

“The country should be prepared to invest in education, including technical education, health, sanitation and governance with special emphasis on the eastern region of the country,” he said.

Patnaik further offered to host the meeting of the Eastern Zonal Council at Bhubaneswar, which was accepted by Union home minister Shivraj Patil, who chaired the meeting today.

Following are excerpts from a Kalinga Times article where former union minister and former Chief Minister of Orissa J. B. Patnaik talks about his contributions to Orissa.

… I had shifted the naval training centre from Visakhapatnam to Chilika. And the Army Air Defence College was shifted from Deorali in Maharashtra to Gopalpur where a cantonment was established in fulfillment of a long-standing demand over several years. An ordnance factory was set up in Titilagarh in Balangir district. An arms factory was set up in Koraput. …

There were no direct train services from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi . There was also no direct air connectivity as well. In 1980, Nilachal Express was stared between Delhi and Bhubaneswar . Direct flights were also introduced. A long railway track initiated to connect Jakhapura-Bansapani and bring benefits for vast tracts of Keonjhar district has been completed this year. To link western Orissa with coastal Orissa, Talcher-Sambalpur railway track was undertaken. Rayagada-Koraput railway line was built to connect Rayagada–Koraput with Visakhapatnam . A new railway division was established at Sambalpur and a new zone (East Coast) was created.

…When I was Union Minister, I had demanded that tourism be declared an industry. When it was not granted, as Chief Minister of Orissa I declared the hotel business as an industry. Later the Central government accepted my decision. As a result, many quality hotels were built in the state. Hoteliers like the Oberois came to Bhubaneswar …

Adjacent to Bhubaneswar city, the Chandaka Elephant Sanctuary was established. For the protection of wildlife, Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary was established along with many other sanctuaries in the state. Puri-Bhubaneswar and Konark were declared a Golden triangle for tourism and Konark-Puri Marine Drive ‘s construction also made this entire area very attractive for the tourism sector. Many such programmes were undertaken to boost tourism in the state.

The state capital of Bhubaneswar was a small city of government employees and its population was one lakh only. The area and nature of the city was transformed. Bhubaneswar became a hub of industrial development and a prominent business and trade centre. Chandaka, Mancheswar, Rasulgarh industrial estates and the newly developed Nayapalli-Chandrasekharpur areas were in for rapid expansion. Parks such as Indira Gandhi Park , Mahatma Gandhi Park and Forest Park were developed in the capital city. Kalinga stadium, construction of a deep lake for water sports in it, the expansion of roads, the beautification of the city with electric lamps, Samanta Chandrasekhar Planetarium, Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies, Harekrushna Mahatab State Library, Kalinga Studio, Odissi Research Centre for development of Odissi song and dance, Xavier Institute of Management for high quality management education, National Institute of Physics, massive plantation programmes to make a green Bhubaneswar, a plant resource centre park for cultivation and propagation of rare cacti were the efforts taken to turn Bhubaneswar into a modern and attractive city. Earlier it was like a small village and without proper attire, it would not attract attention. The state capital should be wholesomely beautiful.

… In 1980, Orissa was the most backward state in the field of agriculture. It is the same way even now. In 1980, a massive effort was undertaken. For a long time, per hectare yield of paddy in Orissa was a mere one tonne, in 1980 it rose by 40 per cent and the yield became 1.4 tonne. The groundnut yield per hectare was two tonnes and from the productivity point of view, it was the highest in the country. The fertilizer yield was improved from only 6 kg per hectare to 22 kg in the year. Of the agricultural land, only 19 percent could benefit from the irrigation system and it rose to 28 percent and by 2000, it grew up to 33 percent. Canal irrigation, tube wells, lift irrigation facilities were increased and creek irrigation facilities were introduced for the first time. Like this, 15 percent additional land could be irrigated and Orissa could be brought into a state of self-reliance.

For the first time, agriculture was accorded the status of an industry in the state and revolutionary agriculture policies were adopted. This enables aid and cooperation to flow in for the farmers just like the industrialists could avail various kinds of benefits and cooperation. Like IPICOL for the industrial sector, APICOL was formed for the agricultural sector. A sum of Rs 20 lakh was allotted for cold storage facilities by the state government.

… In 1980 when the Congress party came to power, the electricity yield capacity in Orissa was very low; it was only 373 megawatts. To improve the scenario, many hydro electricity projects and thermal power plants were constructed. The Orissa Power Generation Corporation and Ib thermal power unit were formed to produce 820 MW in the state. And the Union government also established a 3,000 MW Super Thermal Power Plant. In the later years, India’s the first ever power sector reforms were undertaken in the State. This resulted in putting Orissa’s name as a ‘surplus electricity generating’ state and within 20 years the rate of electricity production became more than six percent higher than in 1980.

There was no environment for industrial development in Orissa then. Except a handful of industries, no one came forward to become an industrialist. That is why attractive industrial plans were formulated to bring about a revolution change in the field. “Rs 1000 crore in 1000 days and 1000 industries.” Whatever was promised came true. Big industries like NALCO in Damanjodi and Angul, Paradeep Phosphates in Paradip, Birla Tyres in Balasore, and FACOR in Bhadrak are some of the big industrial houses apart from numerous small and medium sized industrial units. Chandaka and Rasulgarh in Bhubaneswar , Jagatpur in Cuttack , Balasore, and Kolunga in Rourkela , Jharsuguda, and industrial estate in Balangir were the new industrial units set up. Nine spinning mills, five sugar mills, two oil mills, and many agricultural product mills were prominent among them. Sewa Paper Mills in Koraput, Mangalam Timbers in Nawarangpur, Nicco Cables in Baripada, Powmax Steel in Titilagarh, Orissa Sponge in Keonjhar, Ipitata, Utkal Asbestos in Dhenkanal, Nilachal Ispat Nigam in Jajpur, Oswal fertilizers, Paradip Oil Refinery in Paradip and Software Technology Park in Bhubaneswar, Fortune Towers were also established.

Most of the industrialists who have established themselves in the small and medium industries are Oriya. The creation of a favourable environment for industrialisation in the state has made this happen and a strong team of Oriya industrialists have created a suitable environment for rapid industrialisation in the state. The reports prepared by the Nabakrushna Choudhury Institute and the Planning Commission of the Union Government indicate that during that time Orissa made spectacular advancement in the industrial sector and by 2000 Orissa had became an important destination for capital investment.

For the development of sports, many sports schools were also established in the state from football to hockey. Those sports personnel who earned laurels for themselves and international fame for their state have emerged from the sports institutes.

My Comments: Mr. JB Patnaik definitely has made some good contributions to Orissa. But I wonder if he is being clever in the above piece and indirectly claiming a lot more to be his contributions. Earlier we had listed some of Biju Patnaik’s contribution to Orissa during 1961-67.

Following is from Tathya.in.

… the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) the Government of Orissa appointed 1975 batch IAS Arun Kumar Samantray Commissioner Commercial Taxes as its President.

For the first time an IAS officer of Principal Secretary rank has been appointed in BSE on August 18.

1983 batch IAS Aditya Prasad Padhi,Resident Commissioner at New Delhi is appointed as Commissioner, Commercial Taxes in his place.

Mr.Padhi known as an honest and hard working officer will have a mandate to collect at least Rs.6000 crore of taxes.

1976 batch IAS Hawa Singh Chahar, Principal Secretary, Agriculture Department is appointed as Principal Secretary Forests & Environment.

1979 batch IAS Dr. Hrusikesh Panda, Principal Secretary, Forests & Environment is appointed as Principal Secretary, Fisheries & ARD.

He is also appointed as Chairman-cum-Managing Director, OMFED.

1981 batch IAS Ashok Kumar Tripathy Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Government, Higher Education is appointed as Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Labour & Employment.

1985 batch IAS Gagan Kumar Dhal, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, GRIDCO is appointed as Commissioner-cum-Secretary,Agriculture.

1988 batch IAS C.J. Venugopal, Commissioner-cum-Secretary Fisheries & ARD is appointed as Chairman-cum-Managing Director, GRIDCO and OPTCL.

1989 batch IAS Ms. C.T.M. Suguna, Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Southern Division), Berhampur is appointed as Special Secretary to Government, Rural Development.

1991 batch IAS Satyabrata Sahu, Special Secretary to Government, Water Resources is appointed as Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Southern Division), Berhampur

1990 batch IAS Gautam Kumar Das, Special Secretary Higher Education is appointed as Special Secretary, Textiles and Handloom Department.

1991 batch IAS Vijay Arora, Special Secretary, Industries and Director, Technical Education and Training is appointed as Special Secretary , Planning & Coordination

1991 batch IAS Sailendra Narayan Sarangi, Special Secretary, Steel & Mines is appointed as Special Secretary, Industries

He is also appointed as Director, Technical Education and Training.

1991 batch IAS Rahas Bihari Nayak, Special Secretary, Planning & Coordination is appointed as Commissioner-cum-Secretary Higher Education.

1993 batch IAS Surendra Kumar, Director, Fisheries,is appointed as Additional Secretary , Water Resources.

1993 batch IAS Bibhu Prasad Mishra,Additional Secretary Higher Education Department is appointed as Director, ST & SC Development.

1994 batch IAS Narayan Prasad Das, Director, ST & SC Development is appointed as Director, Sports & Youth Services.

1995 batch IAS Bishnupada Sethi, Director, Veterinary Services and Animal Husbandry is given additional charge of Director, Fisheries.

1998 batch IAS Vishal Gagan, Director, Sports & Youth Services is appointed as Joint Secretary , Energy.

For a list of Orissa Cadre (non-promotee) IAS officers one can visit the site http://persmin.nic.in/CivilList/AsOnToday/MasterQryCL.asp and query appropriately. The executive record of each of the non-promotee IAS officer can be queried at http://persmin.nic.in/ersheet/ProcessQryERS.asp.

A couple of days earlier the Mass Education minister Mr. Bishnu Das resigned. For now, that department is under the charge of the CM.