Poverty and surplus fund situation go hand-in-hand in Odisha

Keeping in view the claim of Odisha Government about the apathetic attitude of Indian federal government towards the issues relating to poverty, regional imbalance and disparity in Odisha and, on the other hand, CAG’s report placing the government at fault for slow implementation of programmes and a commercial focus about utilisation of surplus deposit, one can see how poverty is made to exist in the state with a surplus fund for welfare programmes

Transparency in Bureaucracy holds key to make Decentralised Planning a reality

To make decentralised district planning a reality in the state of Odisha, what is primarily required is a change in the attitude of the bureaucracy and the people in power who design policies for the development of people. They mustn’t rule over people but serve people and facilitate decentralised planning and development

Not only in Odisha but in India as well, people in power are always hungry and passionate for power. They don’t want to share the power with anybody else. This is why decentralisation of Power is still a myth in Odisha and in most of India leaving only a small part in a relatively better state.

Naveen's silence raises more questions about illegal mining in Odisha

Mining outside the lease hold areas without any formal approval and without forest and environmental clearance is the major irregularity in Odisha mining sector that has been continuing at least since last one decade. And, when it comes to forest clearance and approval under environmental protection act, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik himself was the forest and environment Minister for seven years, from May 2004 to May 2011.

New face of Motherhood: Mother sold baby boy to get jeans and mobile phone set

Incident of child selling is not new to Odisha. There were incidents in the poverty stricken KBK districts of Odisha where starving poor parents being unable to feed themselves and the child had sold their offspring under compulsion to make the child survive somehow. But the recent case of a Mother selling her child for material needs like Jeans and mobile phone throws many questions for the social thinkers of India to think upon.

Conflict results in displacement of Tribal families in Koraput

While movements by tribal people to restore their rights over the land and forest are taking up to extremist ideologies, the tribal people not accepting to such ideas are becoming the worst victims of the conflict and such extremist movements.

Jambuli Maleka, a woman leader of Bandhugaon block of Odisha’s Koraput district and the Naib-Sarpanch (vice-Sarpanch) of Kumbarput Grampanchayat, was a peace loving woman and always wanted to lead development and live with her community. But destiny had something else to offer.

The supporters of the movement led by Nachika Linga, a radical tribal youth heading the Chasi Mulia Adivasi sangh (CMAS), came to the village Kopakhal and asked the villagers to join their organisation and the movement to ensure rights of tribal people on the land and the forest, as claimed by the CMAS and its leader Nachika Linga. The denial of the villagers made their life horrible with atrocious behaviour and continuous torture by CMAS Members.

Odisha Industrial Security Force Bill 2012 may lead to more exploitations inside Industries

According to various provisions of the Odisha Industrial Security Force Bill, 2012, the proposed Industrial Security Force personnel can arrest a person without any warrant and, even, without any order from a magistrate. The bill also empowers the force to search a person or somebody’s house even without any warrant.

Climate change badly affects agriculture, threatens food security in Odisha

Climate change has made the agrarian communities living in coastal, tropical and sub-tropical regions of Odisha its worst victims. The change in the time and amount of rain during the cropping seasons has badly hit the agriculture making it an unviable livelihood option. As a result, the communities’ vulnerability to livelihood loss and food insecurity has increased and Youth of the communities are now forced to migrate as labourers.

Odisha under US Scanner for delaying justice to victims of Kandhamal violence

Placing the violence of Kandhamal in Odisha as one of the worst of its kind in the country and listing it among three major instances of violence like the Gujarat violence of 2002 and the Anti-Sikh riots of 1984, the commission’s report mentions that, “In December 2007, in Kandhamal, Orissa, violence between Christians and Hindus resulted in several deaths, dozens of injuries, churches and homes destroyed and displacement. The murder of an influential Hindu political leader in August 2008 sparked a further violent campaign targeting Christians, even though Maoist extremists claimed responsibility.

Violence Against Women: Issue of women safety needs to be seen from social perspective

Since the murder of a woman journalist Chhabirani in the year 1980 till date, thousands of women in Odisha have fallen victim to the heinous instincts of men. As per claims made by the President of Odisha Congress’ women wing on the basis of a white paper tabled in State Assembly, about 4,100 cases under section 376 (rape) were registered in different police stations of Odisha during last three years. The statistics is not only shocking but is also loud to explain how women have become vulnerable to the unmanly instincts of men in the society.

Maoist hostage crisis in India: government indifference makes Maoists give up on mediation

Mediation has been successful at bringing down levels of violence and bringing popular welfare and social justice demands onto the political agenda. These gains are  under threat as the government fails to take the process seriously.
Banned since 2009 as a terrorist organisation Communist Party of India (Maoist) armed cadres now have a presence in more than half of India’s 29 States. Maoists have adopted the tactics of abduction of civil servants and lawmakers since the 1980s. In the last 15 months, Maoists have made three abductions in Odisha and one in Chhattisgarh. However, while the earlier abductions were aimed at a prisoner swap, the recent abductions have raised the possibility of establishing peace by minimising violence and establishing dialogue.

Climate Change Impact may force Olive Ridley Turtles to abandon Odisha beaches for mass nesting

Higher degree of erosion at many points of Odisha's coastline poses serious threat to the routine activities of marine turtles and raises doubts about the continuity of the tradition of mass nesting by the Olive Ridley marine turtles called ‘Arribada’. The nesting grounds are being squeezed alarmingly and the coastal vegetation that plays a vital role in providing food to lakhs of mother turtles and their hatchlings is vanishing rapidly because of coastal erosion and aggressive persuasion of development projects like port infrastructure by Odisha government across the coastline. In regard to the nesting activities this season (2012), things look quite uncertain as the beaches near Gahirmatha river mouth, Devi river mouth and Rushikulya river mouth, that have been the regular nesting grounds for the turtles, have lost most of their space in the Bay of Bengal because of erosion.