___________

Update: Expressbuzz also reports on this.

Following is from today’s Dharitri.

From the above, and its actions in the past, it seems that Orissa government’s future plan in terms of airports are:

• Make an international airport in Bhubaneswar. (Shifting to the new location will take another 10 years.)
• Make an airport in Jharsuguda to cater for Bargarh-Sambalpur-Jharsuguda-Rourkela belt: Will take 2-3 yrs to be operational.
• Plan for an airport in Jeypore: Will take 8-10 years to be operational
• Plan for an airport in Rasgovindpur (near Jaleswar, close to Balasore and Baripada): Will take 8-10 years to be operational

Couple of implications of the above are: Berhampur and Rourkela may not get functional airports in the near future (say next 10 years) as they are close to airports at Bhubaneswar and Jharsuguda respectively. The overall airport situation in Orissa in 10 years will be as follows:

Now lets analyze how feasible the airports at Jeypore and Rasgovindpur will be.

• Jeypore: It is 258 kms from Visakhapatnam by Rail and 224 kms by road. It is 378 kms from Raipur; 450 kms from Jharsuguda and 520 kms from Bhubaneswar. It will be at the junction of two expressways and thus would be able to serve a large population in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Chhatisgarh.
• Rasgovindpur: It will be 30-40 kms from Balasore and Baripada; 70-80 kms from Digha; 80-90 kms from Kharagpur mostly on the expressway; 90-100 kms from Bhadrak mostly on the expressway, close to two expressways; 200kms from Kolkata airport;  210-220 kms from Tatanagar and 260-270 kms from Bhubaneswar. (Tatanagar being only 170 kms from Ranchi may not have a viable commercial airport for some time. Kharagpur being 120 kms from Kolkata will not have a viable commercial airport for a long time.) Thus it is far enough to the nearest airports in Bhubaneswar and DumDum (Kolkata), but at the same time there are enough population centers (Balasore, Baripada, Bhadrak, Digha, Kharagpur, Medinipur, Jhargram, Ghatsila) that will be close to this airport than the existing airports. So this aiport could serve a significant population in Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Following are excerpts from a report in expressbuzz.com.

the Government has distributed over 86,000 titles under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, by December second week. … close to 90 per cent of such titles is in 15 Maoist-affected districts. To be precise, 78,011 titles have so far been distributed in these areas.

… Forest Rights Committee received a good 3,22,590 claims of which 2,86,006 were verified and sent to gram sabhas.

The gram sabha-level committee approved 2,13,666 claims recommending them for titles to the sub-divisional-level committees which verified the cases and in turn sent 99,868 claims to the district-level committees (DLCs). Finally, the DLCs gave a green signal to 88,136 claims for issue of title.

… Of the 86,878 titles distributed yet, 13,321 titles are in Malkangiri alone. …

“It’s very important to note that 17 per cent of these title certificates so far distributed in the 15-affected districts are in Malkangiri alone which at the same time account for 25 per cent (31,570 acre) land.

… The trend shows in Koraput too. The number of title certificates so far been distributed stands at 13,203 which translates into 21,784 acre land. …

For other Maoist-affected districts like Gajapati, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sundargarh, the rate of title distribution is very high.

… Interestingly, of 1,38,004 acre land for which title certificates have been distributed, 1,25,401 acre are in tribal districts of Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Nayagarh, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Rayagada.

So far, 3,551 primitive tribal groups have been issued the titles accounting for over 5,559 acre land.

Following is an excerpt from a PTI news report.

The Orissa government today said it would set up a Forest Academy and expedite the process of giving forest land rights to people living in jungles.

"The Forest Academy will train officials in forest management and protect wild life with more professionalism," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said at a conference of Divisional Forest Officers (DFO) here.

He said Orissa has 20 lakh hectares of poorly managed and degraded forests. Restoration of tree cover and increased vegetation on these degraded forests would make the government’s anti-poverty programmes successful.

The forest department had drawn up a plan for the next five years to give forest cover to ten lakh hectares of land.

Farm forestry and agro forestry had huge potential to improve the income of households, he said.

I was browsing through the web pages of the Project Report on Indian National Expressway Network at http://www.morth.nic.in/writereaddata/sublinkimages/Final_Report_Part13901147970.pdf

It is a masterplan for Indian National Expressway network developed by Craft consultants which was probably hired by the Ministry. The final version of it is dated November 2009.

In that report, they have mentioned feedback received from various states such as Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan and UP. They have taken this feedback into account in making their masterplan.

Unfortunately, Orissa is missing in the list. In other words Orissa probably did not give them any feedback or if it did then not in time.

As a result there is no new expressway in Orissa during the first phase ending 2012. (The GQ is not counted as part of the first phase.) In the second phase  (2012-2017) Orissa has a very very small portion. Only in the third and 4th phase is there a substantial portion in Orissa. Even then there is no east west expressway connecting the capital area with western Orissa directly. Such connectivity between the capital area and western Orissa is extremely significant.

This is gross negligence on the part of Orissa to not have sent feedback to correct the above slights in the master plan for the expressways.

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

The State Government has decided to extend the targeted rural initiative for poverty termination and infrastructure (TRIPTI) scheme to all the 314 blocks.

… TRIPTI is being implemented under the Mission Shakti through the self-help groups (SHGs).

The Chief Minister directed the officials to create the required infrastructure for implementation of the scheme across the State. The scheme is being implemented in 8,369 villages of 38 blocks of the State covering 12,54,607 rural families.

The World Bank-assisted scheme aims at capacity building and employment generation for the women with the help of women SHGs.

It has agreed to provide a loan assistance for the implementation of the scheme for five years.

Naveen also reviewed the progress of Mission Shakti. So far, 46.5 lakh women have become members of 3.87 lakh SHGs. According to a release from the Chief Minister’s Office, so far a loan assistance of Rs 1,367 crore has been provided to the SHGs in the State.

Official sources maintained that during 2008-09, one lakh SHGs from all the 30 districts were provided assistance of Rs 50 crore for creation of livelihood. Similarly, 1,614 SHGs in the KBK region (undivided Kalahandi, Balangir and Koraput districts) were provided Rs 80.7 lakh for creation of job opportunities. SHGs in the urban areas were provided a loan assistance of Rs 2 crore during the year.

Besides, the SHGs have also dug 7,000 water bodies under the livelihood support programme for pisci-culture. The release claimed that 63 SHGs distributed LPGs under the Shakti Gaon Programme. The SHGs also implemented mid-day meal scheme in 34,000 schools and members of 7,000 SHGs worked as public distribution system (PDS) agents.

The State Government has signed an agreement with Reliance Fresh and ITC for marketing products from the SHGs. …

Many of you may have parents, friends and relatives who employ domestic workers in Orissa. Please convey them regarding the following rules on minimum wage so that they do not run afoul of the law.

Following is from a report in Business Standard.

The Orissa government has raised the minimum wages for the domestic helps. The minimum wage of such workers has been fixed at the same level as for the unskilled workers. So a domestic help will be entitled to get a basic wage of Rs 2340 per month.

Besides, they will be entitled to a special allowance (variable dearness allowance) from the date of fixation of minimum wages at the rate of Rs 20 per day for a block period of 2 years. It will be applicable for the domestic workers engaged in cleaning of vessels, washing of clothes, sweeping and swabbing floor, care of old and infirm persons, kitchen shopping, taking children to school among others. For implementation of this decision, employment of domestic workers has been made a part of the schedule of the minimum wages act, 1948.

They will have a six days week and an off day and will be paid 7 days wages for the 6 working days. If they work on any weekly off day, they will be paid double the daily wage. On the otherhand, the owners who employ domestic helps will pay 20 percent less if they provide 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner).The owners can’t deduct any amount from their wages for providing accommodation, water and electricity.

The labour and employment department of the Orissa government has come out with the required notification, sources said.

Many of them raised various Railways related issue. MPs Bhakta Das and Sanjay Bhoi raised the issue about a medical college and a national university in Bhawanipatna. Following are news items from Dharitri and Samaja on this.

Following is an op-ed piece from Samaja on the Railways issue.

Following is from Samaja.

The second article above says that the central government agreed to this terminal market due to Mr. Amarnath Pradhan’s proposal. I am not sure how true this is as the following call came out in 2008.

The official site http://rtiorissa.gov.in/ has tons of information.

Following is from Samaja. Its unacceptable that Orissa only spent 650 crores out of the allocated 1100 crores for NREGS during 2008-2009. The unspent money could have built half of Khurda-Balangir line. The Orissa government needs to do a better job at spending this money.

Tathya.in has some interesting tidbits on this. Following is an excerpt.

Minister was speaking in the High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) on 17 November.

HLCA Chaired by Naveen Patnaik cleared the proposal of 4-laning of Sambalpur-Rourkela Highway on PPP Mode with an investment of Rs.1270 crore.

He said by slapping tool tax on the commuters and funding the project is passé.

Now while roads are coming up in a big way, lands are identified at some vantage points by the side of the roads.

These places can be handed over to the developers so that they can develop shopping malls, housing projects and this should be included in the package.

And this initiative will lessen the burden of tax payers, who are forced to pay huge toll tax for years to come.

Secondly Minister said that while we are going for expansion of the Highways, encroachment of land is posing a big problem.

… It would be a better proposition to acquire land and lay the road in such a way that more space is left inwards.

So that later that space can be used for expansion of roads and no body will be able to encroach upon and inside the highway, said the Minister.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

the BJD has decided to bring four resolutions against the Centre. “We will move resolution against the Centre for neglecting the cause of Odisha in the field of railway, for not increasing mine royalty in a regular manner and not giving its due share to the State, Centre’s negligence in providing help to the State to face the Maoist menace and Government’s failure to provide flood assistance to the State,” Mohanty added.

I agree with the above.

Following is from http://rc.orissa.gov.in/index3.asp?linkid=30&sublinkid=1129.

PRESS RELEASE DT.04.11.09(CM ATTENDED THE CONFERENCE OF CHIEF MINISTERS AND STATE MINISTERS )

GOVERNMENT OF ORISSA

PRESS RELEASE

New Delhi

November 4, 2009

Shri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Minister,  Orissa today attended the Conference of Chief Ministers, State Ministers (Tribal/Social Welfare and Forest departments) on "IMPLEMENTATION STATUS OF SCHEDULED TRIBES AND OTHER TRADITIONAL FOREST DWELLERS (Recognition of Forest Rights) ACT 2006" inaugurated by Dr. Manmohan Singh, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India at National Agriculture Science Centre, New Delhi. CM addressed the Conference and gave a vivid account of initiatives undertaken by the State Government for development of  Tribals  in  Orissa.

Chief Minister stated that Scheduled Tribes constitute almost a quarter  of the total population of the State and Orissa has the unique distinction of having 62 different types of Scheduled Tribe communities and 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTGs). He informed that the Government of Orissa has undertaken   several   steps to ensure all round development of the Scheduled Tribes (including the PTGs). The initiatives include setting up of 1004 ST Girl’s Hostels, enhancement of scholarship for ST Boys & Girls, establishment of 19 educational complexes in micro project areas for promotion of Girl’s education among the PTGs, establishment of one B.Ed Training College in Kandhamal, setting up of 11 Ekalavya Model Residential Schools etc. The State Government is also committed to establish another 5000 ST Girl’s Hostels over a period of five years to provide residential facilities for 5 lakh ST Girls, CM  stated.

Chief Minister further mentioned that after the promulgation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights Act), 2006, the Government of Orissa had taken pro-active measures to settle the land rights (both individual and community) in favour of the Tribals and other forest dwellers which they had been occupying/enjoying for ages without any legal record of rights. After vacation of the Stay Order of the Hon’ble High Court of Orissa on the distribution of Certificates of Title on 12^th August, 2009, the State Government has been implementing the Act on a Mission mode, he informed.

CM stated  that substantial progress has been made on implementation of  the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and about 2.64 lakh cases have already been verified out of more than 3 lakh cases filed by the Tribals with the Forest Rights Committees (FRCs) as on 31^st October 2009.  He further informed that the Gram Sabhas have approved about 2 lakh cases and out of which the Sub Divisional Level Committees have already  approved  72,000 cases. The District Level Committees have approved about 68,000 cases out of which Certificates of Title have been distributed to more than 55,000 cases. About 4,000 Certificates of Title have been distributed among the PTGs out of about 16,000 PTG families in the State.

Chief Minister stated that it might not be enough to only confer legal rights to the Tribals over the land and  suggested that steps should be initiated to provide irrigation facilities and improve  productivity of these lands by dovetailing various programmes  such as National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) etc. He also informed that the Government of Orissa had constituted a Watershed Mission to improve the productivity of rainfed lands and desired that  the Government of India  should support this programme so that it can be extended to  development of the  lands being settled with the Tribals. 

******

Following is from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127365.htm.

In Kandhamal, Orissa State, individuals affiliated with left-wing Maoist extremists killed Hindu religious leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers on August 23, 2008. Although ultraleft Maoists claimed responsibility, the murders exacerbated underlying socio-economic tensions between the dalits and the tribals and unleashed a wave of revenge killings, assaults, and property destruction. According to widely accepted government statistics, 40 persons died and 134 were injured; most of the victims were Christians. The large-scale violence, which included the August 25 alleged rape of a Christian nun, attracted worldwide media attention. The central Government sent 39 companies of paramilitary forces to restore peace and security. State authorities established 18 emergency camps to house displaced persons, worked with NGOs to deliver assistance and relief to victims, and allocated funds to compensate next of kin and repair damaged houses, businesses, and places of worship. The police arrested 1,200 persons and registered more than 1,000 criminal cases. On April 21, 2009, police arrested Maoist leader P. Rama Rao in connection with Saraswati’s murder. According to several independent accounts, an estimated 3,200 refugees remained in relief camps, down from 24,000 in the immediate aftermath of the violence.

In March 2009 Orissa’s ruling party, Biju Janata Dal, terminated its 11-year alliance with its coalition partner, the BJP, reportedly in part over differences in responding to the Kandhamal violence. The state government, supplemented by central police, ensured that all communities in Kandhamal were able to freely and fairly exercise their franchise in April 2009 state and parliamentary elections. Since the reelection of the Biju Janata Dal Party, without its former coalition partner, the state government has worked with the central government to rebuild communities in Kandhamal both through infrastructure improvements and peace councils with various stakeholders. In June 2009 the central Government disbursed $ 300,000 (Rs. 14,648,437) compensation to the next of kin of 35 Kandhamal riot victims.

A part that is not mentioned in the report is that in the 2009 April elections the BJP party which was accused of playing a role in the violence in Orissa was decimated across the state. Out of 147 state level seats, their number reduced from 32 to 6 and in the national level MP (member of parliament) seats their number in Orissa (total seats 21) reduced from 7 to ZERO. The other party that was in power in Orissa, BJD, severed its coalition with BJP before the elections  and went on to win the elections with a larger number of seats than before.

The following is constructed using today’s data in the world gazetteer.

Notes:

1. Delhi metropolitan area (not listed above)  has a population of 18,639,762 encompasses the state of Delhi and parts of UP and Haryana.
2. In the above Chandigarh is listed under Punjab mainly because there is more growth in the Punjab suburbs of Chandigarh. It is actually a centrally administered unit and capital of both Punjab and Haryana.

Considering the close relation between urbanization and other developmental indicators, Orissa must aim to have at least 5 metropolitan areas other than Bhubaneswar with population of 10 lakhs within the next 25 years.  Those are:

• Rourkela-Kansbahal-Rajgangpur (within 5 years)
• Berhampur-Chhatrapur-Hinjilicut (within 10 years)
• Sambalpur-Jharsuguda-Belpahar-Brajarajnagar (within 10 years)
• Baripada-Balasore (within 20 years)
• Koraput-Jeypore-Sunabeda (within 25 years)

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The Orissa cabinet today approved a proposal of the Orissa Power Generation Corporation (OPGC), a joint venture between the Orissa government and the AES, to adopt super critical technology with a configuration of 2X260 Mw and sharing of power for the proposed expansion of unit 3 and unit 4 of the Ib Thermal Power Station of OPGC.

The cabinet chaired by the chief minister Naveen Patnaik also allowed OPGC a time gap of 6 months between the commissioning of the 3rd and 4th units.

However, in case of delay in commissioning of the 4th unit beyond 6 months, OPGC would have to give 450 Mw from the 3rd unit against the approved 420 Mw.

The complete list of committees is at http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/Committees/depcomp.aspx.

Following is the membership list of Orissa MPs in various standing committees. The list is extracted from the Dharitri news report below:

• Labor: Hemanand Biswal, Chair of the committee (equivalent in rank to a minister of state); Renubala Pradhan, Rudra Pany
• Finance: Bhakta Charan Das, B. Mahtab
• Information Technology: Tathagat Satpathy
• Defense: Prasanna Patsani, Amarnath Pradhan
• Commerce: Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo
• Industry: Arjun Sethi, Pyari Mohan Mohapatra
• Science, Technology, Environment and Forests: Jayram Pangi, Bibhu Tarai, Bhagirathi Majhi
• Health and Family Welfare: Radhakant Nayak, Balbir Punj
• Energy: Nitaynada Pradhan, Rama Chandra Khuntia
• Foreign Affairs: Pradeep Majhi, Pinaki Mishra
• Food and Consumer affairs: Laxman Tudu
• Railways: Rudramadhav Rai, Suhshila Tiria
• Urban development: Baijayant Panda
• Rural Development: Siddhant Mohapatra
• Coal and Steel: Sanjay Bhoi, Yashvant Laguri, Kishore Mohanty
• Social Justice and Empowerment: Mohan Jena

Following are some committees that do not have any representation from Orissa.

• Home
• HRD
• Agriculture
• Law

Following is an excerpt from a report in Telegraph.

The state-level single-window clearance committee, headed by the chief secretary, today cleared proposals to set up industrial projects drawing a total investment of Rs 2,037 crore.

With the decision, decks have been cleared for signing MoUs by promoters concerned with the state government, sources said.

The committee also forwarded two more proposals for setting up of two thermal power plants to generate 3,300MW with a total investment of Rs 14,275 crore to the high-level clearance authority, headed by the chief minister.

…  While JR Power Gen has proposed to set up a 1,980MW thermal power plant at an estimated cost of Rs 7,988 crore at Kishore Nagar near Angul, BGR Energy has submitted proposals for establishment of a 1,320MW power plant with an investment of Rs 6,287 crore in Nayagarh district.

… the committee gave its final nod to Hindalco’s proposal for setting up an aluminium re-rolling plant with a capacity of 2.85 lakh tonnes at Hirakud in Sambalpur district with an investment of Rs 850 crore.

The proposal of Rashmi Cement Limited to establish a 2 lakh tonnes ferro manganese plant at Haridaspur in Jajpur district with an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore and Dhananjay Industries’s 40,000-tonnes ferro alloy plant at Choudwar near Cuttack with an investment of Rs 180 crore were also cleared.

The committee also cleared the proposal of Kaushal Ferro Manganese for establishment of a re-rolling mill with a production capacity of 2 lakh tonnes at Padiabahal in Sundergarh district with an investment of Rs 82 crore.

The last proposal, which got the nod, was submitted by Bhubaneswar Power Limited to set up a 135MW power plant at Anantpur near Athgarh in Cuttack district on joint venture with Tata Steel and Jasper at an estimated cost of Rs 625 crore.

An excellent blog on Berhampur’s growth is at http://futureberhampur.blogspot.com/.

(Thanks to reader Abhisek for the pointers.)

The following is from Orissa gazette of December 30 2008 making the declaration.

 

EXTRAORDINARY

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

No. 2382, CUTTACK, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2008/PAUSA 9, 1930

HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

NOTIFICATION

The 29th December 2008

S.R.O. No. 641/2008

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of article 243 Q of the Constitution of India the Governor of Orissa hereby specifies the local area comprising the whole of the Berhampur Municipal Council in the district of Ganjam with the boundaries described in the Schedule given below as a larger urban area.

SCHEDULE

North : Chandaniapahada, Ambagada, Ratnapur, Jagadalpur, Nimakhandi, Luchapada, Bhavinipur, Bada Gumula, Pali Gumula, Sana Kausasthali and Narendrapur.

South : Aruva pali, Ganja, Brahmapali, Khajuria, Phulata, Haladiapadar.

East : Raghunathpur, Pathura, Dura, Mandiapalli, Aruvapali.

West : Bendalia Lathi, Sukunda, Chandania pahada, Ambagada.

[No. 33010-Ele(Con)6/2008/HUD.]

By order of the Governor

Dr. A.K.PANDA

Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Government

Following are some excerpts from a report in Hindu.

The Berhampur Development Authority (BDA) organised a launching workshop on Saturday on the preparations of Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for a greater Berhampur. The CDP is to be prepared by the Town and Country Planning Organisation (TCPO), the technical advisory body of Central Ministry of Urban Development. The new master plan would be Geographical Information System (GIS)-based. It would depend on remote sensing data provided by satellites as well as the ground level data collected through surveys. …

The preparation of the CDP would cost around Rs. 1,09,75,000. The State Government, which would bear the cost, has provided Rs. 35.50 lakhs for it in the first phase.

It may be noted that Berhampur, a major trading and cultural centre had its last master plan way back in 1969. This master plan envisioned the urban growth and required basic amenities for a population of over two lakh persons by the year 1986. The present CDP however would provide urban development plan for the area now under the BDA which includes areas of urban bodies like Berhampur, Gopalpur and Chatrapur and 139 villages. This would be part of the greater Berhampur with a vision of development for next 30 years. The CDP would comprise a total area of 317 square km having a population of 5,13,760 persons. It is expected that the CDP would be ready in 18 months.

Following is from http://164.100.24.207/synopsis/15/II/Synopsis-17-07-2009.pdf. Thanks to http://twitter.com/mensrightsindia for the link.

 

PRIVATE MEMBER’S BILL UNDERDEVELOPED AND BACKWARD AREAS AND REGIONS (SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR ACCELERATED DEVELOPMENT) BILL, 2009

SHRI BAIJAYANT PANDA Initiating, said:

The Indian Constitution is one of the most widely lauded documents of its nature anywhere in the world. The Indian Constitution recognizes every citizen as equal irrespective of caste, creed, religious background and many other criteria, the fact remains that hundreds of millions of our fellow citizens are not equal, because of no fault of theirs. It is true that barriers of caste, barriers of religion affect many Indian citizens but the fact remains that one of the biggest predictors of the disadvantaged in our country is simply an accident of birth and that can be related to the region that they are born in. I have here with me a map which indicates the income patterns of various regions of various States in our country. When you look at the regions that are disadvantaged, you recognize that not a small proportion but rather a significant proportion of our population is disadvantaged simply by virtue of having been born in these regions and not having the same opportunities as the other Indian citizens have in other parts of the country. It is also obvious that it is these disadvantaged regions which are the breeding grounds of disaffection, naxalism and extremist movement. If we are to tackle these problems which challenge the India nation, our approach has to focus on the developmental requirements of these regions, particularly these backward regions which have been left behind.

It is a matter of national shame that 62 years after we gained Independence, there is such an imbalance. Because of our economic growth of the last decade and a half, we are being talked about as an economic super power in the making. But the fact remains that any super power status that is conferred upon us by the rest of the world is going to be marred if such a large percentage of our population, such sections of our geography are going to be left behind. As regards the official Below Poverty Lines statistics, my own home State of Orissa has a Below Poverty Line percentage of population of more than 45 per cent. The State of Bihar has more than 42 per cent of the people falling into this category of Below Poverty Line people. The state of Madhya Pradesh and Sikkim have 37 and 35 per cent of their people falling in this category. By some criteria and by some estimates, as many as 800 million people in India can be defined as poor by an Independent yardstick. But even if we just stick to the official definition, even if we just stick to official statistics, it is clear that we need to do an enormous amount of work to ensure that this regional disparity does not continue. Often we are given a picture that the Centre’s job is to legislate, is to plan, is to even accord financial help, but the actual job of implementation is the States. We recognize that, but national responsibility cannot be declined. The ultimate responsibility for the country’s performance is of the Central Government. Large chunks of our population from these regions actually hold the Centre responsible for their predicament. The Central decision of imposing a command economy on the country cost us very dearly in certain parts of the country. States like Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal have a certain advantage, a natural economic advantage, having mineral wealth. This should have led to the natural situation that investment in those industries should have come to those States and they should have benefited from it. It did not happen. So, the Central Government do bear a responsibility for making sure that these parts of our country are helped, are given a helping hand to be brought up. Orissa has immense mineral potential. But for 50 years, it was held back. Everywhere in the world mineral royalties have been based on a principle known as ad valorem. But in India, the royalties were not ad valorem till recently. Now gradually they have started becoming so with still a few exceptions left. The disaffection that my fellow citizens feel in Orissa, in Bihar, in Chhattisgarh, and in all these States is but natural, is but justified. I would like to make a mention about the Railways. State of Orissa has one of the lowest railway network in the country, whereas our neighbouring States have the highest percentage of rail track in the country. If this is not discrimination, then tell me what discrimination is. I would like to mention that some of these States like Bihar and Orissa have, for decades, been asking for a special category status. But it has not been accorded. It is left to the State Government alone to take up the burden of development in these areas, which is simply not justified. An unbiased look needs to be taken. Certain changes in policy have to be made. We should take development to each and every village otherwise there is no way we can make the case that we should all live in harmony. I would like to point out that there are many pioneering efforts. At the national level itself, there is, of course, the Planning Commission. But the net result is that such large parts of the country are still neglected. I am not criticizing the Planning Commission. I am just saying that for a country of this size, things cannot be that centralized. They need to be decentralized. There should be a National Authority headed by the Prime Minster himself to deal with all the areas, which fall into this category. I hope, I would get the support of the Government in bringing about such a legislation so that these areas of lack of development can be attended to, otherwise, I put it to this House that these areas would get left behind for longer.

This is a beautiful speech.