The Hindu also has an article on Mission Ashra. Ashra’s home page is here. It has many success stories.
Kalinga times reports that a new squad has been formed to check the theft of minerals from rich regions in Orissa. Excerpts:
… Orissa government has finally decided to constitute a special enforcement squad to conduct frequent raids to check theft and illegal transportation of various minerals in different parts of the State.
The decision about formation of the special squad was taken at a review meeting organised by the Steel and Mines Department of the State government here on Wednesday.
The squad, to be named State Mining Enforcement Squad, will be headed by a Mining Department official. It will also have an official of the Forest Department and 12 security personnel.
The squad will be put in place within a month, the meeting decided.
Steel and Mines Minister Padmanabha Behera who presided over the meeting has requested the Forest and Homes Departments to depute their staff for the squad.
In fact, it took the Steel and Mines Department seven months to take a formal decision on the formation of the special squad.
In a statement issued after a similar review meeting held in February this year, the Department had announced that it would constitute a squad to check smuggling of minerals.
Smuggling of minerals has been growing in the State in the recent years.
A total of 322 persons were booked by the Mines Department from April 1, 2006 to January 31 this year and fine amount of Rs 3.25 crore was collected from them.
Besides, 191 vehicles used in illegal transportation of different minerals were also seized during the period.”
I hope this does not get lost in bureaucratic hassles.
Following is a reproduction of an article about Baji Mohammad by P. Sainath.
Nine decades of non-violence
Countless rural Indians sacrificed much for India’s freedom, to fade into oblivion later, seeking neither reward nor recognition. Gandhian Baji Mohammed, who has been active for 70 years in one or the other cause, is amongst the last of this dying tribe, writes P Sainath.
“We were sitting in the tent, they tore it down. We kept sitting,” the old freedom fighter told us. “They threw water on the ground and at us. They tried making the ground wet and difficult to sit on. We remained seated. Then when I went to drink some water and bent down near the tap, they smashed me on the head, fracturing my skull. I had to be rushed to hospital.”
Baji Mohammed is one of India’s last living freedom fighters – just one of four or five nationally recognised ones still alive in Orissa’s Koraput region. He is not talking about British brutality in 1942. (Though he has much to say on that, too.) He’s describing the vicious attack on him during the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, half a century later. “I was there as part of a 100-member peace team.” But the team was given no peace. The old Gandhian fighter, already in his mid-seventies, spent ten days in hospital and a month in a Varanasi ashram recovering from the injury to his head.
No hatred in his heart
There is not an iota of anger as he describes the event. No hatred towards the RSS or Bajrang Dal that led the attack. Just a gentle old man with a charming smile. And a firm Gandhi bakht. He’s a Muslim who heads the anti-cow slaughter league of Nabrangpur. “After the attack, Biju Patnaik came to my home and scolded me. He was worried about my being active even in peaceful protest at my age. Earlier, too, when I did not accept this freedom fighter’s pension for twelve years, he chided me.”
Baji Mohammed is a colourful remnant of a dying tribe. Countless rural Indians sacrificed much for India’s freedom. But the generation that led the nation to it is dying out swiftly, most of its members in their late 80s or 90s. Baji is closing in on 90.
“I was studying in the 1930s, but did not make it past matric. My guru was Sadashiv Tripathi who later became Orissa Chief Minister. I joined the Congress Party and became president of its Nabrangpur unit [then still a part of Koraput district]. I made 20,000 members for the Congress. This was a region of great ferment. And it came fully alive with satyagraha.”
However, while hundreds marched towards Koraput, Baji Mohammed headed elsewhere. “I went to Gandhiji. I had to see him.” And so he “took a cycle, my friend Lakshman Sahu, no money, and went from here to Raipur.” A distance of 350 km of very tough, mountainous terrain. “From there we took a train to Wardha and went on to Sewagram. Many great people were at his ashram. We were awed and worried. When could we meet him, if ever? Ask his secretary Mahadev Desai, people told us.”
“Desai told us to talk to him during his 5 p.m. evening walk. That’s nice, I thought. A leisurely meeting. But the man walked so fast! My run was his walk. Finally, I could no longer keep up and appealed to him: Please stop: I have come all the way from Orissa just to see you.”
“He said testily: “what will you see? I too, am a human being, two hands, two legs, a pair of eyes. Are you a satyagrahi back in Orissa?’ I replied that I had pledged to be one.”
“Go,’ said Gandhi. “Jao, lathi khao. (Go and taste the British lathis.) Sacrifice for the nation.’ Seven days later, we returned here to do exactly as he ordered us.” Baji Mohammed offered satyagraha in an anti-war protest outside the Nabrangpur Masjid. It led to “six months in jail and a Rs. 50 fine. Not a small amount those days.”
More episodes followed. “On one occasion, at the jail, people gathered to attack the police. I stepped in and stopped it. “Marenge lekin maarenge nahin,’ I said. (We shall die, but we shall not attack.)”
“Coming out of jail, I wrote to Gandhi: what now? And his reply came. “Go to jail again.’ So I did. This time for four months. But the third time, they did not arrest us. So I asked Gandhi yet again: now what? And he said: “take the same slogans and move amongst the people.’ So we went 60 km on foot each time with 20-30 people to clusters of villages. Then came the Quit India movement, and things changed.”
“On August 25, 1942, we were all arrested and held. Nineteen people died on the spot in police firing at Paparandi in Nabrangpur. Many died thereafter from their wounds. Over 300 were injured. More than a thousand were jailed in Koraput district. Several were shot or executed. There were over a hundred shaheed (martyrs) in Koraput. Veer Lakhan Nayak [legendary tribal leader who defied the British] was hanged.”
Baji’s shoulder was shattered in the violence unleashed against the protesters. “I then spent five years in Koraput jail. There I saw Lakhan Nayak before he was shifted to Berhampore jail. He was in the cell in front of me and I was with him when the hanging order came. What should I tell your family, I asked him. “Tell them I am not worried,’ he replied. ‘Only sad that I will not live to see the swaraj we fought for.'” Baji himself did. He was released just before Independence Day – “to walk into a newly free nation.” Many of his colleagues, amongst them future Chief Minister Sadashiv Tripathi, “all became MLAs in the 1952 elections, the first in free India.” Baji himself “never contested the polls. Never married.”
“I did not seek power or position,” he explains. “I knew I could serve in other ways. The way Gandhi wanted us to.” He was a staunch Congressman for decades. “But now I belong to no party,” he says. “I am non-party.” It did not stop him from being active in every cause which he thought mattered to the masses. Right from the time “I took part in the bhoodan movement of Vinoba Bhave in 1956.” He was also supportive of some of Jayaprakash Narayan’s campaigns. “He stayed here twice in the 1950s.” The Congress asked him to contest elections more than once. “But me, I was more sewa dal than satta dal. (More service oriented than power seeking.)”
Greatest moment
For freedom fighter Baji Mohammed, meeting Gandhi was “the greatest reward of my struggle. What more could one ask for?” His eyes mist over as he shows us pictures of himself in one of the Mahatma’s famous protest marches. These are his treasures, having gifted away his 14 acres of land during the bhoodan movement. His favourite moments during the freedom struggle? “Every one of them. But of course, meeting the Mahatma, hearing his voice. That was the greatest moment of my life. The only regret is that his vision of what we should be as a nation, that is still not realised.”
Just a gentle old man with a charming smile. And a sacrifice that sits lightly on ageing shoulders. ⊕
P Sainath
16 Sep 2007
Courtesy: The Hindu
P. Sainath is the 2007 winner of the Ramon Magsaysay award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts. He is one of the two recipients of the A.H. Boerma Award, 2001, granted for his contributions in changing the nature of the development debate on food, hunger and rural development in the Indian media.
Following are some excerpts from a Telegraph report. (Thanks to Deba Nayak for the pointer.)
“Having five players from Orissa in the national team, including the captain, is reason enough for us to celebrate. Our boys are not tired of the revelry yet,” said Amulya Nanda Bihari, the coach at the Rourkela sports hostel, today.
The boarders at Sundargarh and Cuttack, too, are celebrating the victory for the third consecutive day.
… Virtually one-third of the team being from Orissa, the state has emerged as a hockey powerhouse.
Hockey is less of a sport and more a way of life here, says Bihari, who has been a coach to Ignace Tirkey, William Tirkey and Prabodh Tirkey, the goal-keeper captain of the Indian team. He has witnessed the rise and fall and now the revival of the game since 1986, a year after the Rourkela hostel was set up.
Bihari, feted with the pretigious Biju Pattnaik Award for his contribution to hockey, pays a handsome tribute to the tribals’ natural flair for hockey. “Children in Sundargarh, Rourkela and Deogarh start playing at an early age — sometimes as early as five, and there never has been a dearth of talent. …
It is because tribals are so level-headed that makes them excel in defence, says Bihari.
Another coach, Milton Bilung endorses Bihari. “It’s an all-day and all-weather game for the tribals. Sometimes when tournaments are held, 200 teams participate and it becomes extremely difficult to manage.”
While Christian missionaries made the game popular, lure of government jobs is another reason for drawing the tribals. Almost all good players manage to get placement in Nalco, Railways and Orissa Police. Many lose interest in the game after grabbing the jobs, rued Bilung.
Currently, there are around 115 tribal players lodged in sports hostel such as those at Rourkela, Sundergarh and Cuttack.
Among these, Rajgangpur, Balishankara and Talsara in Sundergarh have produced the finest players so far.
The Orissa government official portal has a new design and look. It seems to have a lot of new and updated information. However, many links are broken. I guess fixing all the bugs will take some time. Readers may comment on the bugs they find in the comment section below and we will aggregate them and send them to the appropriate people.
Following are excerpts from a Pioneer report:
Versatile literary critic, translator, book editor and former Professor of the Berhampur University, Sudarshan Acharya, was conferred the coveted Atibadi Jagannath Das award for literature for the year 2006 here on Tuesday.
The award, instituted by the Orissa Sahitya Akademi, is the State’s highest honour for literature, consisted of a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and a citation. …
Thirty prominent litterateurs were felicitated and awarded on the occasion for their contributions to Oriya literature.
The awards for the years 2003 went to Shanti Mohapatra (novel), Sadananda Tripathy (short story), Gopal Krushna Rath (poetry), Mihir Kumar Meher (drama and one-act play), Sulochana Das (essay and criticism), Hrudananda Ray (biography and travelogue), Suryamani Khuntia (translation), Birakishore Padhi (children’s literature) and Narayan Prasad Singh (lyrics). The winners for 2004 were Rashmi Roul (novel), Rajanikanta Mohanty (short story), Nrusingha Kumar Rath (poetry), Dilliswar Moharana (drama and one-act play), Baishnab Charan Mohanty (essay and literary criticism), Subash Chandra Mishra (biography and travel writing), Kanan Mishra (translation), Harihar Shukla (children’s literature) and Gurukrushna Goswami (lyrics).
Each of the awards carries a cash prize of Rs 10,000, besides citations.
The twelve litterateurs felicitated for the year 2006 were Bishnu Charan Mohanty (Bhubaneswar), Subodh Kumar Chatterjee (Cuttack), Prafulla Chandra Patnaik (Puri), Rabindra Kumar Praharaj (Bhubaneswar), Hadibandhu Mirdha (Bargarh), Arabinda Mohapatra (Sambalpur), Bhagaban Nayak Barma (Bhadrak), Sabitri Devi (Cuttack), Krushna Prasad Mohapatra (Bhubaneswar), Nityananda Nayak (Bhubaneswar), Bipin Behari Khamari (Bhubaneswar) and Purnamasi Jani (Phulbani). …
The Pioneer reported that
Tata Steel has converted a wasteland into an attractive park and dedicated it to the citizens of Joda valley in Keonjhar district on the occasion of its centenary year.
A couple of years back this barren wasteland by the side of the main road in Joda was just a parking place for trucks or grazing field for the animals.
Following it an extract from a report from Ecomic Times.
The $7-billion metals-to-power group , Vedanta Resources, on Friday invited companies to build cement plants in Orissa near its thermal power facilities by using fly ash, a by-product of burning coal and a key ingredient for making cement. Vedanta said it will keep open the option to partner prospective companies in the venture.
Vedanta has asked interested companies to submit plans by the first week of September. The fly ash will come from the coal-based power plants owned by Sterlite Industries, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources.
According to Vedanta’s statement, the power plants will generate about 8MT of fly ash. Industry experts said that a tonne of fly ash produces an equal amount of cement. But the by-product from Sterlite’s plants may also be used to feed brick manufacturing units and other ash utilising units in and around Jharsguda, said executives.
Sterlite had recently floated an energy subsidiary – Sterlite Energy – to build thermal power plants in Orissa’s Jharsguda district, with a combined capacity of 2,400 MW.
The power plants, to be built at an investment of $2 billion, will come up by 2009, Sterlite had announced earlier. Sterlite had earlier this year raised about $2 billion in the US market, to be mainly used for funding the power projects.
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 are excerpts from a New Indian Express report.
‘Kendera geeta’ is on the verge of extinction. This art form was once quite vibrant in Western Orissa districts.
Kendera geeta involves a particular group of people who sing devotional songs accompanied by a very simple-looking musical instrument. They visit door to door and seek alms to sustain themselves. Kendera has some similarity with violin.
There is a head made of dry coconut shell. A bunch of hair from horse’s tail is used as strings for the instrument.
The Naths have made kendera singing a profession and been carrying on with it as a family tradition. Naths migrated from Angul at different points of time to Nathpada of Dadar Nuapali and Parmanpur village of this district.
Interest in Kendera Geeta is gradually waning and now there is hardly any youth taking to the art form. The new generation considers carrying the crude instrument and seeking alms below their dignity. …
If this art is to be saved, it has to divorce itself from seeking alms.
Following is Dharitri’s report on this.
Telegraph has a nice short traveogue on it contributed by Kalyan Mukherjee. Following are some excerpts.
Digha is by far the most popular beach in the area. Finding even a modest accommodation there, especially on a weekend, can be difficult. While just a hop away, in the neighbouring state, Talsari is relatively tourist-free, and consequently, pollution-free.
The road from New Digha, which is south of Digha, towards Orissa meanders through casuarinas standing on both sides like sentries. The trees make a hissing sound as the sea breeze blows through them.
Generally, only men on bicycles can be seen on the 15-km drive along a very, very bad road. Most parts of it are devoid of a surface.
After crossing the state border, we reached a village where the newly painted and repaired Chandaneswar temple is located. …
The first impression of Talsari is unlikely to blow you away. You may wonder what’s there to see except a few country boats, roving fishermen and casuarina coves. But the serene villages and tall palm trees will grow on you.
The cashew trees sway in the breeze welcoming the visitors. In February, red and orange flowers appear on the plants. The cashew kernel hangs outside the fruit, which is also edible.
You will find only sand dunes on the beach — no heckling hotelier, no screaming hawker, no bargaining tourist. There are a handful of small hotels and a Panthasala run by the Orissa government.
The beach is quite flat and the waves are small and playful. The estuary of the river Subarnarekha can be seen in the distance. The crests of the waves glow as darkness descends. The full moon rose gradually the night we were there and the beach turned a dreamscape.
As per Indiantelevesion.com two new AIR stations will be coming up in Soro (Balasore Dist) and Rairangpur (Mayurbhanj Dist) and 2 more FM stations will be coming up in Orissa.
Following are excerpts from a Newkerala report.
Seven players from Orissa will participate in the national senior women football training camp scheduled to be held at Neyvelli in Tamil Nadu from September 10.
The players selected for the training were– Prasanti Pradhan, Alochana Senapati, Gayatri Mallick, Gitanjali Khuntia, Sukumati Lagori, Sasmita Mallick and Pinki Bomphal Magar.
Orissa State Women’s Football Association General Secretary Sahadev Rout said while four of them had already played for the country, Prasanti (Goalkeeper), Gayatri (Half) and Lagori (Forward) were new faces.
Note that in the 33rd National Games Womens’ football championship, held earlier in this year, Orissa was the champion. But later in the year it lost in the semifinals of the 15th women’s national football championship. In recent years Orissa’s Sradhanjali Samantray has captained India’s national women’s football team.
Orissa also sends significant members to the Indian national women’s as well as men’s hockey teams. Orissa’s Jyoti Sunita Kullu (bio), who got an Arjuna award earlier this year, has captained the Indian national women’s hockey team. A recent team was captained by Binita Toppo of Orissa and had three other members from Orissa in Suniti Kispotta, Poonam Toppo and Binita Xess. The current women’s hockey probables 18 has the following six players from Orissa: Poonam Toppo, Nilima Kujur, Binita Toppo, Mukta Barla, Binita Xess and Subhadra Pradhan.
Dilip Tirkey has captained the Indian national men’s hockey team and Prabodh Tirkey is the current captain. The current team of eighteen consists of the following Orissa palyers: Dilip Tirkey, William Xalco, Prabodh Tirkey (captain) and Ignace Tirkey. Orissa Steelers, captained by Dilip Tirkey, won the 2007 Premier Hockey League championship in 2007.
Following up on our earlier post on Orissa cuisine here are some more links to Orissa cuisine courtesey a posting by Deba Nayak in calnet.
In a news item on the Singapore business summit znetasia mentions that there will be one India business summit which showcases emerging states of India. Orissa is mentioned as an emerging state in that list.
“GES 2007 will also host the Global Indian Business Summit 2007, which will focus on the country’s emerging states such as Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Rajastan and Gujarat.”
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