___________

The following is from page 23-24 of http://164.100.47.5/newdebate/213/12032008/15.00pmTo16.00pm.pdf. on 12th March 2008.

MS. PRAMILA BOHIDAR (ORISSA): Sir, I would like to thank the hon. Railway Minister for having taken the step to grant free monthly tickets to girl students up to graduation level. Sir, the hon. Railway Minister has also taken a very welcome step to grant 50 per cent concession for railway travel to senior women citizens. Sir, I also express happiness for extending a train from Sambalpur to Banaras via Rourkela and Ranchi. But, this is only a half-hearted step. I had raised the demand for a direct train from Titlagarh or Sambalpur to Allahabad during the course of my speech in the last so many Railway Budgets. But, this has not been done. If this train is introduced, a lot of passengers of western Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh will be benefited.

Sir, I would like to draw the special attention of the Railway Minister to the different developmental grants given to Orissa, which are not sufficient. As Orissa is giving maximum revenue from valuable iron ore and mines, it is but natural for us to expect developmental work of railway system in interiors of Orissa. There is lack of railway link inside the adivasi areas and the newly developed industrial belt. These areas are to be well-connected with capital Bhubaneswar; otherwise, it will be very difficult to control immediately frequent naxalite attacks. Sir, the Orissa Government has presented demands for setting up of various projects, like wagon-making, electrical equipment making, factories at Bondamunda near Rourkela and Manchansuer near Bhubaneswar. But, these proposals have not been included in the Railway Budget. It is regrettable that these demands have not been fulfilled. Sir, our Chief Minister had raised a demand of Rs.1,330 crores, but the Budget has allocated only Rs.972 crores. Out of the above allocation, the major portion is meant for electrification and doubling of inter-State railway lines.

Sir, very less importance has been given to completion of on-going projects or construction of new railway lines. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that some of the railway projects, though sanctioned between 1993 and 1998, have not been completed till date for want of proper allocation of funds. These projects are mostly in tribal and naxalite areas. These areas have been neglected in this Budget. These on-going projects are: Daitari-Banspani; Lanjigarh-Junagarh; Khurda Road-Bolangir; Haridaspur-Paradeep; Angul-Dubri-Sukinda; Talcher-Bimalagarh; and Rupsa- Bangiriposi.

Sir, only some negligible amount of Rs.32.4 crores and Rs.35 crores have been provided to Khurda Road-Bolangir and Lanjigarh-Junagarh railway lines respectively, which will still remain incomplete. I request the Railway Minister that these projects should be completed early. Sir, the State Government has already submitted some proposals for incorporation in the current Budget, but it is regrettable that not a single project has been incorporated in this Budget.

Sir, I would also request the hon. Railway Minister to provide railway link to the naxalite affected areas, like Jaypore, Malkangiri, Naupada, Gunupur, Kandhamal, which are neglected for decades. Sir, I impress upon the hon. Railway Minister to consider the abovementioned proposals in greater interest of Orissa. Thank you, Sir. (Ends)

MP Sushila Tiria’s speech in Hindi on 11th March 2008 is at http://164.100.47.5/newdebate/213/11032008/14.00pmTo15.00pm.pdf (page 15-23) and page 1 of http://164.100.47.5/newdebate/213/11032008/15.00pmTo16.00pm.pdf.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

All most all the artistes said that they were not able to arrange a square meals for them before the Bhubaneswar Municipal Commissioner assigned them the task of wall painting. "Now we are flooded with offers from Mumbai, Delhi and Private Individuals to do wall paintings for their concerned organisations," said the team leader Simanchal Mallick.

Sharing the dais with the BMC Commissioner, Mallick said he was bit nervous before the Press. "Though I am a qualified artist, I wasn’t able to arrange even Rs 30 a day for my sustenance before this assignment," he said, adding that he even had left the profession and engaged in other profession.

… Thanks to the initiatives of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Commissioner. Things have started changing.

Simanchal continued in the last three months, they have been so far able to earn Rs 11 lakh by painting walls in different parts of the city. Bhubaneswar Municipal Commissioner has promised to give more works in the near future. "We do use weather coats and other modern technology to give it a permanent look.

The paintings would last for five to seven years," he said.

Giving a detailed plan, Commissioner Sarangi said that 13 more walls would be painted "We just decide upon the wall that comes under public eyes. If any individual wishes to paint a wall he must enter into an agreement with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Commissioner.

… She further continued that Bhubaneswar Municipal Commissioner wants to project Bhubaneswar as the face of the entire Orissa. All the paints relating to the composite culture of Orissa will be painted in the city walls.

Some land acquisition numbers:

• Total: 61,769.527 acres
• Coastal: 15,536.153 acres
  • Ganjam: 3229.815 acres (top)
  • Baleswar: 347.643 acres (bottom)
• Naupada: 11,816.27 acres since 2000 (top)
• Kalahandi: 6,163.77 acres (2nd)
• Mayurbhanj: 6113.78 acres (3rd)
• Malkangiri: 3.65 acres (bottom)
• IDCO indsutrial land acquistion in last 3 years for 58 industries
  • 4778 acres govt. land
  • 6532 acres private land

From Today’s TOI Editorial:

Along with policing, however, other arms of the state machinery need to act and reach out to India’s tribal areas where Maoist insurgents are based. That means schools, roads, health care, easy credit, market access and other social welfare measures needed to mainstream India’s tribals and poor.

There’s a misguided belief that a hands-off policy is best when it comes to tribals. It becomes a handy excuse for not undertaking concerted efforts to bring them within the ambit of modernity and an Indian common market. The problem is that if government institutions don’t make serious efforts to get to India’s 84 million tribals then others will: Christian missionaries, Hindu activists, Maoist proselytisers. And that will end up strengthening the forces of both ideological extremism and regional chauvinism. Instead of ad hoc, panicky responses whenever incidents like Nayagarh happen, a long-term strategy comprising both security and welfare elements needs to be put in place to tackle the Naxalites and tone up governance in the areas that are their strongholds.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Financial Express.

The Paradip Petrochemicals & Petroleum Investment Region (PCPIR), which has raced ahead to become one of the five fast track projects, is expected to attract a total investment to the tune of Rs 2.75 lakh crore.

The IL&FS, the consultant for the Orissa project, Monday gave a presentation to the senior officials of the state government about the development of the project. The presentation was witnessed by chief secretary, Ajit Kumar Tripathy, development commissioner RN Bohidar, industries secretary Ashok Dalwai, commerce & transport principal secretary Priyabrata Patnaik, special secretary Guru Ray, IDCO managing director Vishal Dev, among other senior officials.

The IL&FS vice-president, Anil Goel, said that the Orissa project, which was lagging behind, has made good progress during the last two months. According to him, the project is now at par with the projects proposed at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Dahej in Gujarat and Mangalore in Karnataka. He said that the project has been highly appreciated by the Centre.

Goel, who was accompanied by his Orissa head Manoj Panda, said that the project, which will come up over an area of 28,500 hectare at Paradip, will have Indian Oil Corp’s (IOC) Rs 26,000 crore petrochemical complex as anchor tenant. Besides the IOC investments, the project will attract investment to the tune of Rs 23,000 crore in township, housing and allied sectors, Rs 15,275 crore in external infrastructures like port, airport, cargo complex, road, while Rs 2.30 lakh crore will come in the hardcore industries of the petrochemical sectors. He said the investments would be by the private corporate houses, public sector undertakings, and in the mode of BOOST and PPP.

Following is Samaja’s take on it.

Following is based on a report in Pioneer.

• Secretary, Health Chinmay Basu was transferred and appointed as Secretary, Industries
• Secretary, Steel and Mines UP Singh was transferred and appointed as Secretary, Agriculture.
• Industry Secretary Ashok Dalwai was transferred and appointed as Secretary, Steel and Mines.
• Agriculture Secretary Gagan Dhal was appointed as Special Secretary, Planning and Coordination.
• Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC)-Central zone Suresh Chandra Mohapatra was transferred and appointed as Secretary, Energy. However, he would remain in -charge of the Chief Administrator, Shri Jagannath Temple Administration.
• SN Sarangi, Director, DTET (Director Technical Education and Training) will join as RDC, Central Zone.
• Additional Secretary, Energy Srikanata Pakiray was appointed as Director, DTET.
• Development Commissioner RN Bohidar will remain in the additional charge of the Secretary, Health till further order is issued.
• Secretary, Planning and Coordination Parag Gupta was appointed as Secretary, Tourism. He will continue to function as secretary to the Governor.

Following is culled from various sources, including Samaja and Pioneer. The 11 projects that have been cleared or partially cleared are:

1. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd’s proposed power plant in Sundargarh. An investment of Rs 18,000 crore has been made for the project which will produce 3,200 megawatt of power.
2. Proposed Air Separation unit factory by British Oxygen which will come up at Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district. It will produce 1800 tons of oxygen daily. It will need 15 acres of land and will invest 838 crores.
3. Jindal Stainless Ltd’s Rs 4,090 crore proposed power plant. The project will come up at Gajamara in Dhenkanal. The power plant will produce 1,000 megawatt.
4. Aarti Steel’s Rs 2,065 crore power plant at Ghantakhal in Athagarha
5. Salivahan Green Energy Ltd’s power project at Nimidha in Dhenkanal
6. Hind Metal and Industries Pvt Ltd (HMIL) Rs 237.10 crore plant at Meramunduli in Dhenkanal
7. Kalinga Energy and Power Ltd’s Rs 4261.27 crore project at Babuchakuli in Sambalpur
8. JSW Energy Ltd’s Rs9189.7 crore project at Chiplima in Sambalpur
9. Chambal Infrastructures and Ventures Ltd’s Rs 4993.98 crore project at Siaria in Dhenkanal
10. Ind Barath Energy Ltd (IBEL)’s Rs1007.69 crore power plant at Banaharpali in Jharsuguda.
11. Expansion of Balasore alloys.

Following is from http://rc.orissa.gov.in/writereaddata/sublinkimages/167.doc.

PRESS RELEASE

January 30, 2008

Reg:   Submission of Memorandum by the House Committee of OLA to the Hon’ble Minister of Railways on 30.01.2008.

        The members of House Committee on Railways under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Speaker, Orissa Legislative Assembly, accompanied by the Members of Parliament submitted a Memorandum to the Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways in his office chamber. In the said meeting, Chairman, Railway Board and other high officials of Ministry of Railways were present.

          Orissa is on the threshold of major industrial upsurge and first progressing towards rapid industrialization. The large number of MoUs have been signed with several companies for setting up Steel Plants. Similarly, MoUs have been signed for setting up Alumina Plants and Super Thermal Power Houses. Several ports are also coming up along the Orissa coast. It is expected that additional generation of traffic will be staggering 200 to 250 MTPA by 2016.

          In the background of such massive transportation requirement, the rail infrastructure require urgent strengthening and expansion.

           Hence, the committee has given a proposal for enhancement of allocation of funds for the six ongoing projects to the tune of Rs.655 crore, for electrification of two Sections for Rs.50 crore, for gauge conversion Rs.125 crore, for doubling Rs.500 crore, altogether totaling to Rs.1330 crore, in the ensuing Railway budget.

–        2 –

          Hon’ble Railway Minister gave a patient hearing to the various demands raised by the House Committee and assured to look into the various proposals positively. He further assured that additional funds will be given for the projects in the execution stage for their early completion.

          On Puri-Konark project, Hon’ble Minister suggested that if land can be provided by the State Government, the project can immediately be taken up by the Government of India keeping in view the huge tourist potential of the area.

          The Committee also requested Hon’ble Minister to sanction nine new railway lines for which survey has already been completed. Hon’ble Minister assured that sanction of viable projects will be processed for approval of Planning Commission. The Committee also put forth demand for introduction of new train services, extension of selected existing services, increasing frequency of popular trains, improving quality of onboard services and amenities at the major Railway stations in the state.

          The Hon’ble Minister, Railways directed the Railway officials to examine the proposals given by the House Committee on Railways of OLA.

Various news reports mention some additional details. For example, New Indian Express reports that the committee asked for the following:

Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh- Rs 120 crore, Khurda Road- Balangir-Rs 150 crore, Haridaspur-Paradip-Rs 175 crore, Angul-Dubri- Sukinda Road-Rs 75 crore,Talcher-Bimalagarh-Rs 75 crore, Daitari-Banspani-Rs 60 crore.

Electrification of Kharagpur-Nimpura- Bhubaneswar and Bhubaneswar-Kottavalasa lines-Rs 50 crore, gauge conversion of Rupsa- Bangiriposi and Naupada- Gunupur lines-Rs 50 crore and Rs 75 crore respectively and doubling of Titlagarh- Lanjigarh Road-Rs 500 crore.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Hindu.

Accusing the Centre of depriving ten lakh families in Orissa of the benefits meant for the poor by insisting on listing BPL families in Orissa according to the 2002 list, the Orissa government has announced a low cost housing scheme to cover all those denied houses under the central programme, official sources said.

"Mo Kudia" (My Hut) scheme has been launched to provide houses to 10 lakh poor families who would be deprived of the benefits meant for families living below the poverty line (bpl), Panchayati Raj Minister Raghunath Mohanty said.

The BPL families were entitled to get houses under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), ration cards and old age pensions.

…The decision to launch +Mo Kudia+ scheme was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here.

Mohanty said the state government had decided to give Rs 25,000 to each BPL family denied a house.

He said nearly 10 lakh people living below poverty line would be deleted from the list, if the state government accepted the fresh list prepared in 2002.

According to a survey of poor people in 1997, nearly 44 lakh families were identified as BPL. But the statistics changed in 2002 when the number of BPL families in the state was reduced to 34 lakh.

Following is an excerpt from a news report in Hindu.

Declaring 2008 as the "Year of Irrigation", Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday unfolded a Rs 2,000 crore package for the farmers assuring water to every agricultural field in the state.

"Water to all agricultural field will be our top priority during 2008," Patnaik told reporters, adding that a minimum of Rs five lakh would be spent for providing water to a village where 35 per cent of the agricultural land remained non- irrigated.

Patnaik said the government had decided to set up at least 1,000 Minor Irrigation Projects (MIP) and lift irrigation points during 2008 to ensure that all the fields get water.

"At least Rs 2,000 crore will be spent on improving the irrigation facilities in the state," the chief minister said, adding that some of the irrigation projects would be funded by NABARD.

The government has decided to undertake lining works in certain canals where water leakage were reported earlier, senior officials of the water resources department said.

"The aim is to ensure that the farmer at the tail end of the canal system gets irrigation facilities," Patnaik said.

The following is from http://rc.orissa.gov.in/index3.asp?linkid=30&sublinkid=272.

ORISSA’S 11^th Five Year PLAN SIZE FIXED AT RS.32,225 CRORE

 AIMS AT 9% GROWTH

Addressing the 54^th meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) at Delhi, Chief Minister of Orissa Naveen Patnaik announced that the 11^th five year plan for Orissa has an outlay of Rs.32,225 crore and targeted 9% growth for the plan period. This was set against the achievement of 7.26% growth during the first four years vis-à-vis the target of 6.2% of the 10^th five year plan.

In his address, the Chief Minister, Orissa stated that tackling the challenging task of reduction of regional, social and gender disparities and achieving faster, broad-based and inclusive growth needed a three-pronged strategy that included:

(i)               Increasing flow of untied Central assistance to less developed states,

(ii)            Providing greater fiscal space to the states for mobilizing higher resources, and

(iii)          Helping states to reduce their debt burden by swapping high cost debt, including Small Savings debt, with low cost loans.

He impressed that a growth strategy that promotes employment has been rightly given prominence in the 11^th Plan.  Orissa has already put employment generation on a mission mode for achieving convergence of resources and activities under different programmes to generate more employment opportunities for unemployed people.  Development of small scale industries in clusters and ancillarization are also going to be given more attention during the 11^th Plan.

He also stressed that increasing irrigation potential and drought proofing were critical pre-requisites to enhance agricultural productivity.  With a view to increasing assured irrigation in Orissa, he urged Government of India to substantiality increase Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) funding for Orissa and to expand the scope of AIBP to include Lift Irrigation projects.  He further requested Government of India to significantly enhance allocations under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Revival Mission (JNNURM) and Urban Infrastructure Development Schemes for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) for providing basic infrastructure facilities in urban and semi-urban areas in Orissa.

The Chief Minister, Orissa further outlined several interventions that were urgently needed for expeditious and inclusive growth of backward states like Orissa.  Some such interventions included:

(i)               higher Central Assistance for infrastructure development in the areas of roads, ports and railways in Orissa and other backward states,

(ii)            enhancement of funding for the World Bank sponsored Orissa State Road Project from US $ 250 million to US $ 360 million and increased Central support for the proposed Ranchi-Vijayawada Highway,

(iii)          establishment of prestigious Central institutions like IIT, IIM and IIIT in Orissa to meet growing needs of skilled manpower for upcoming industries,

(iv)          exemption from income tax and central excise for 10 years for the KBK region on the lines of Special Category States in order to promote industrialization,

(v)             timely revision of royalty on coal and other minerals, on  ad valorem basis and  equitable share of export duty levied by Government of India on major minerals to the mineral rich states,

(vi)          just and adequate compensation for power producing states which bear the brunt of pollution and displacement, and

(vii)        expeditious coverage of all 30 districts under RGGVY and release of funds for the same.

The Chief Minister, Orissa also stressed that the mineral rich states needed to benefit from their natural endowment in a fair and efficient manner and that these states needed to be consulted in assigning mineral concessions.  He stated that value addition within the mineral bearing states needs to be given emphasis and hoped that Government of India shall fully address the concern of the mineral bearing states while finalizing the proposed mineral policy.  He further urged the Central Government to declare Orissa as a Special Category State.

Update: Economic Times says:  While it takes close to 275 days to obtain a license for any venture in Mumbai, it takes only 159 days to get a license in Bhubaneshwar,…

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

The private sector lending arm of the World Bank, International Finance Corp. (IFC), on Thursday said India can greatly improve its business environment if the best practices, currently followed only in some cities, can be replicated across the country.

“India can jump 55 places if best regional practices (in 10 business areas) are adopted nation-wide,” IFC’s chief economist Michael Klein said at a panel discussion on the ‘Doing Business 2008 Report’ of the World Bank.

India is currently ranked 120 in the Doing Business Index.

The report pointed out that best domestic practices in the area of launching a business exists in Jaipur, dealing with licences in Bhubaneswar, registering property in Hyderabad, paying taxes in Bhubaneswar and Chandigarh, trading across borders in Chennai, enforcing contracts in Bhubaneswar and closing a business in Bangalore. These practices, if adopted by the entire nation, would significantly improve the business environment in India, he said, adding that the country’s ranking in 2008 survey went up by 12 places to 120.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.

The Orissa government has given administrative sanction for acquiring land at Patana tehsil in Kenojhar district for Arcelor-Mittal’s proposed 12 million tons per annum steel plant.

The company … has already deposited Rs 4.03 crore with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDCO) as processing fee for phase-I land acquisition.

The government has also appointed a nodal officer to oversee land acquisition process and other issues concerning the company’s greenfield project, said Steel and Mines Minister Padmanabha Behera.

Arcelor-Mittal is understood to have sought nearly 8,000 acres of land for the purpose and the state is believed to have agreed to the request.

The government has, however, cleared acquisition of only 1,224 acre of land spread over three villages like Angikala, Baradangua and Bhrungaraj under Patana tehsil in the first phase of land acquisition.

The 1,224 acres demarcated for the first phase acquisition comprised 431 acres of government land and 739 acres belonging to private owners.

While the government had fixed price per acre of state land at Rs two lakh, it was yet to decide cost of private land which would be fixed according to rehabilitation and resettlement policy.

The insert mentions that there are 10.2 lakh differently abled people in Orissa out of which 17,245 have been identified in Khurda district.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Pioneer.

The Orissa Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) on Tuesday announced that it has planned to cultivate Jatropha over 2 million hectares of wasteland in the KBK region.

… Science and Technology Minister Sanjeeb Kumar Sahoo said the need of the time is to go for an alternative of fossil fuels. Therefore, the production of bio-fuel from non-edible vegetable oils, particularly Jatropha curcas, is a much talked-about subject in the world. Orissa is among the first five States in the country that have come forward for bio-fuel production. The objective of the plan is to get substitution of fossil fuels, generation of employment and utilisation of wastelands, he said.

Secretary, Science and Technology, NC Vasudevan, said the Indian Oil Corporation has agreed to take the responsibility of bio-fuel marketing through its already existing network in the country. Director, OREDA, Ajit Bharthuar, said the oilseeds would be produced by the farmers and OREDA would buy the seeds from them to support them.