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 FAX: PMO at 23016857 , 23015603 (Delhi STD code is 11), CMO at 674 2590 833 (home) 674 2535 100 (office) and Planning Commission at 23096699

To:

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister of India

Cc: Mr. Naveen Patniak, Chief Minister of Orissa

Cc: Shri Muralidhar Chandrakant Bhandare, Governor of Orissa

 
Subject: Solving the greater Kandhamala problem – going after the root cause in a war footing

Dear Dr. Singh: 

While the civil society in Orissa, the nation and the world is disturbed by the  communal violence in Kandhamala, I would urge you to take steps to eradicate the root cause of the violence in Kandhamala and the nearby tribal, hilly, forested, awfully connected, poor and backward districts of Orissa (and its neighboring states). In this regard, please note that the violence did not spread to the major towns and cities of Orissa (such as Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Balasore etc.)  that are well connected (by Rail and roads), decently developed and have a civil society. 

While the violence involving the murder of Swami Laxmanananda on August 23^rd 2008 and the subsequent communal violence that has taken about 40 lives is most deplorable and is in the forefront of the media, please also recall the following events that also took place within the last year in these areas:

1. February 15 2008:  400 to 500 armed Naxals raided the Nayagarh armory and killed 15 people including 13 policemen.
2. June 29 2008: 30 elite anti-insurgency policemen were killed by Maoists near Malkangiri.
3. July 16 2008:  21 Orissa policemen were killed in a land mine explosion and firing by the ultras in Malkangiri.
4. Dec 27 2007: Eleven churches were ransacked and torched in several areas of Kandhamal district.

Please note that these events happened in places in Orissa (Nayagarh, Malkangiri and Kandhamal) that are badly connected, near or within forests, have a large tribal population, and are among the most backward districts of India. The following map shows these districts are surrounded by large tracts of dense and open forested areas, and partly explains why the naxalites and Maoists are able to make them their base and why it has been difficult to deploy adequate police there in a timely manner.

Sir: As an economist and a world leader you must know that lack of connectivity, lack of development, lack of a civil society, entrenched forest and mountainous areas together with a different population base is a recipe for the sprouting of troubled areas. This is true all across the world; from J& K and North eastern areas of India to caucuses in Asia. While one cannot and should not get rid of the mountains or the people, the problem can be solved by making the areas well connected and bringing development. The Indian government is doing that in J & K and in the northeast; but has mostly forgotten about the similar areas in Orissa, Chhatisgrah, and Andhra Pradesh, which are the favorite bases of the Naxals and Maoists.

Sir: We would like you to pay the same attention to these areas in terms of connectivity, development, and creation of civil societies, as you do to the North east and J & K. In particular we would request that following be done in a war footing during the 11^th plan.

(i)                  The Vijaywada-Ranchi highway that passes through many of these areas be completed.

(ii)                Broadband connectivity be brought to these districts with adequate access locations.

(iii)                Two Railway lines, parts of which have already been sanctioned by the Railways but are progressing slowly, are completed and made operational. Those lines are:

a.       Khurda Rd – Balangir (passes through Nayagarh and Boudh) – This line was sanctioned in 1994-95 is progressing very slowly.

b.      Bhadrachalam Rd (Andhra Pradesh) – Malkangiri – Jeypore – Nabarangpur – Junagarh – Lanjigarh Rd – passing through Kandhamala – Boudh – Angul – Talcher – Bimlagarh: Several segments of these lines are approved but progressing slowly. Those segments are Junagarh – Lanjigarh Rd and Talcher – Bimlagarh. Angul – Talcher is operational.

(iv)              With the above lines operational, development should be brought into Kandhamal, Boudh, Gajapati, and KBK districts (including Kalahandi and Malkangiri) through 1-2 Rail factories and public sector units that can use the steel and aluminum and power produced in abundance in Orissa.

(v)                Orissa govt. should be encouraged and aided to establish a university in Kandhamala and another in Kalahandi.

(vi)              A branch of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University be established in one of these districts.

(vii)             Orissa govt. should be encouraged and aided to establish a government medical college and nursing college in Kandhamala or Boudha district.

Sir:  In regards to the cost of establishing the Railway lines, please note that as per the calculation in  http://kbkrail.orissalinks.com/ Indian Railways is scheduled to make a profit of 2679.72 crores/year from its operations in Orissa. If 1500 crores of this money (the rest may go to Indian Railway’s current plans for Orissa) is put into Orissa, in just 2-3 years the above mentioned lines could be completed.

Sir: We sincerely hope that you will translate the great concern you have shown towards the recent violent events to the above mentioned action items that address the key issues of lack of connectivity and development in these areas and thus provide a long term and real solution.

Sincerely

Appendix:

1. Estimated profit Indian Railways will make from Orissa in 2008-09:

2.  One of the earlier planning commissions has noted in http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/stateplan/sdr_orissa/sdr_orich2.doc

“Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation in all parts of the globe. It is one of the key economic infrastructures. However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like Orissa, development of rail networks has received much less attention of the Central Government in the post-independence period. There are as many as seven districts like Boudh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur out of the 30 districts of the state, which do not have any railway line passing through them. In the year 1998-99, the density of railway route length per 1000 sq. km of area in Orissa was only 15.03 km as against 42.66 km in West Bengal and 19.11 km. at all-India level”.

3. The tribal population percentage of the KBK districts are as follows:  Malkangiri  58.36% ST  (+19.96% SC),  Rayagada 56.04% ST  (+14.28% SC),  Nabarangpur 55.27% ST (+15.09% SC), Koraput 50.67% ST (+13.41% SC), Nuapada 35.95%  ST(+13.09% SC), Kalahandi 28.88% ST (+17.01% SC), Sonepur 22.11% ST (+9.5% SC), Balangir 22.06% ST (+15.39% SC). Two adjacent districts also have high tribal population. They are Kandhamala 51.51% ST (+18.21% SC) and Gajapati 47.88%  ST(+8.77% SC). 

4. The literacy rates in the KBK districts are abysmally low. Malkangiri 31.26%, Nabarangpur 34.26%, Rayagada 35.61%, Koraput 36.2%, Nuapada 42.29%, Kalahandi 46.2%, Balangir 54.93%, Sonepur 64.07%. Two adjacent districts also have low literacy: Gajapati 41.73% and Kandhamala 52.95%. The state average is 63.1%.

5. Population below the poverty line in southern Orissa (of which KBK is a part) is reported to be 89.17% of the people according to the 1999-2000 NSS data and 72% of the families according to the 1997 census.

Following is the news report on the discussion (almost a confrontation) with the Railway Board Chair, as reported in India Abroad.

The basic premise behind our grievances against Indian Railways and our demands is simple.

• Indian railways is scheduled to make 2500-3000 crores/year from Orissa, but spends only 1000 crores/year on Orissa in terms of new lines, doubling and gauge conversion.
• Its current plan for major spending includes freight corridors, metro rails, and high speed rails, none of which touch Orissa. It plans to do gauge conversion of 12000 kms, most of which is unprofitable (this proves that Indian Railway lies when it says it only does profitable lines), very little (less than 100 km) of which is in Orissa.
• Orissa is already behind the national average in terms of rail density and way behind its neighbors such as West Bengal and Bihar. If no changes are made to the 11th plan IR allocations Orissa will further fall behind.
• Indian Railways must not take money from its profit in Orissa, and spend it else where, until it takes care of proper connectivity to Orissa’s tribal, backward and maoist infested areas. The 2500-3000 times 5 = 12,500 -15,000 crore that Indian Railways will profit from Orissa during the 11th plan must be spend in new lines in Orissa until the (i)-(v) lines below and other port and mine connectivity lines are completed during the 11th plan.
• To Mr. Jena’s retort that Mumbai earns so much in taxes and not all of it is spent in Mumbai; we reply that it is often acceptable to take from rich and give to poor; But when did it become acceptable to take from poor (Orissa) and give to rich (freight corridors etc. in other states)?

The lines in Orissa connecting to the tribal and backward areas that we demand to be finished during the 11th plan are:

• (i) Khurda Rd - Nayagarh - Balangir: Lack of connectivity was one of the reasons a recent Maoist mayhem happened in Nayagarh. It seems after recent events, including the confrontation with the Railway Board Chair and various dharanas in Bhubaneswar, IR has started responding to this demand, but not to the extent to promise its completion during the 11th plan. Note that Balangir is the B in the KBK districts that are the most backward in India.
• (ii) Lanjigarh Rd - Junagarh - Nabarangpur - Jeypore - Malkangiri - Bhadrachalam Rd in Andhra Pradesh: Only small part of this is approved. Most of it is not even surveyed. In the long run this will really bring those parts of Orissa closer to the rest of Orissa. This is the most important connection and has to be take care of at the earliest. Like the approved Vijaywada-Ranchi highway, this line will create an alternative Hyderabad - Ranchi path passing through backward and tribal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Jharkhand. This line will connect the Kalahandi and Koraput districts, the two K’s in KBK. The recent Maoist attack and killing of the Greyhound forces in Malkangiri might have been prevented if this line existed as then the forces would have used the train rather than being seating ducks taking a boat across a lake in Malkangiri.
• (iii a) Rayagada - Gopalpur: This has been surveyed and but work on it has not started. Note that Rayagada is part of the undivided Koraput district, one of the K’s of KBK. This line could come under port connectivity and will be a viable line connecting the industries near Rayagada with the upcoming port in Gopalpur.
• (iii b) Gunupur - Theruvali: This will add to the Naupada-Gunupur line and make it an economically viable line. (IR and Mr. Jena agree about its importance.) This line will be completely inside the Raygada district, part of the undivided Koraput district, one of the K’s of KBK.
• (iv) Talcher - Bimlagarh (connectivity to the tribal district of Sundergarh): This line has been approved but is only being given a few crores each year, which is less than the inflation. This line will reduce the distance between Sundergarh district and teh coastal areas significantly. For example, it will make Rourkela only 4-5 hrs from Bhubaneswar.
• (v) Baripada/Buramara - Chakulia: This line will connect the tribal district of Mayurbhanj to tribal areas of Jharkhand. It will add to the Rupsa-Baripada-Bangiriposi line and make it an economically viable line. (IR and Mr. Jena agree about its importance.)

All these lines can be completed if Indian railways just suspends its practice of taking from poor (Orissa) and giving to the rich for only a few years (may be just 3-4 years). The following maps show the above mentioned lines.

The following list is from www.orissatourism.gov.in/new/Identified_Tourist_Centre_of_Orissa_261207.pdf.

Following is an excerpt from a report in New Indian Express.

Satkosia gorge sanctuary located in the heart of the State is unique in more than one way. River Mahanadi has cut right across the Eastern ghats endowing the gorge with all its beauty.

The 22 km long gorge divides the area into two distinct parts accessible from Angul and Nayagarh or Boudh. It covers four districts of Angul, Cuttack, Nayagarh and Boudh and is the second largest sanctuary of Orissa.

The areas support moist deciduous forest, dry deciduous forests and moist peninsular sal forests and a largely bamboo species.

Wild animals like the Royal Bengal Tiger, Leopard, elephant, four horned antelope, giant squirrel, wild dogs, nilgai, sloth bear, mouse deer, spotted deer etc are the pride of the sanctury.

A huge variety of resident and migratory birds and reptile species (gharial, mugger, crocodile, fresh water turtle, poisonous and non poisonous snakes etc) are also a part of the sanctuary.

The sanctuary is home to 400 plant species, 38 mammals, 31 reptiles in the sanctuary. Satkosia gorge was declared a sanctuary in 1976 AD by the State Government under Section 18 of Wildlife (protection) Act 1972. Its area is 795.52 sq km.

The sanctuary is managed by two wildlife divisions, south part by Mahanadi Wildlife Division at Nayagarh and north by Satkosia Wildlife Division at Angul. Both Satkosia Gorge and Baisipalli sanctuary area of 1038 sq.km were declared elephant reserves in 2002 by the State Government. Satkosia also enjoys the status of a Tiger Reserve after being the title in December 2007 after an approval of the Central Tiger Conservation Authority as per Wildlife Protection Act (amendment 2006).

Now, request would also be put forth to declare it a bio-sphere reserve for its biodiversity and abundant natural resources. Former Central Environment amd Forest Minister Kamalnath initiated to declare as Bio-sphere reserve.

About 133 villages in the sanctuary, including three forest villages and 10 hamlets. In The buffer zone as many as 128 villages are located.

The village people mostly depended on forest for their livelihood but the ban enforced by the Government on forest work and collection of NTFP and forest produces as per direction of Supreme Court and Wildlife Protection Act.

No developmental work is being done inside the sanctuary for a long time. The recent declaration of Satkosia as the second tiger reserve was long over due. It would not only go a long way in protecting the tiger population but also take care of other rare animals on the verge of extinction.

State government should spare no time in implementation of the reserve process by making an action plan and constituting an authority as required. Now in the Tiger Reserve 18 Royal Bengal Tiger, 34 Leopard and 194 elephants.

Following are excerpts from a report in New Indian Express.

The State Government has prepared a Rs 850-crore draft project proposal under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) for placing before the Centre for funding. The objective of the mission is to increase production and productivity of rice and pulses in 21 of 30 districts of the State in a sustainable manner.

The other objectives are to enhance farm level economy, restore confidence among farmers and create employment opportunities.

While 15 districts will be covered under NFSM for rice, 10 districts have been chosen for increased production of pulses. While Balangir, Kalahandi, Keonjhar and Nayagarh will be covered under the mission both in rice and pulses, the districts covered under NFSM in pulses include Bargarh, Cuttack, Ganjam, Khurda, Puri and Rayagada.

The project, to be implemented during the 11th Plan period , is expected to cover 20 lakh hectares for rice cultivation and 13.57 lakh hectares for pulses. The State has planned to increase yield of rice from 1,690 kg per hectare in 2007-08 to 2,095 kg per hectare by 2011-12 in the mission districts.

The estimated production of rice in the mission districts will increase from 33 lakh tonnes to 42 lakh tonnes. It has projected to enhance the productivity of pulses from 478 kg per hectare in 2007-08 to 594 kg per hectare in 2011-12. The low yield of rice in the State is due to several factors.

While more cultivable areas are under rainfed conditions, the kharif and rabi crops are totally dependent on monsoon rains. Lack of farm mechanisation, improved technology, training of farmers, soil management, pest management and non-availability of quality seeds are the other factors for low productivity.

The Centre will provide full financial assistance and the fund will be utilised for introduction of hybrid seeds, scientific management of problematic soil, pest management, farm mechanisation, training of farmers, Agriculture Director Arabinda Padhee said. The Government has projected to spend Rs 650 crore for rice production and Rs 200 crore for improved farming of pulses.

Following is a big excerpt from Pioneer on this. (The detailed route and the various proposed stations can be found in this map.)

The inordinate delay in the construction of the Khurda - Balangir railway line has triggered severe public resentment, with people blaming the Centre for, deliberately, deferring the project.

Paucity of funds and delay in land acquisition are said to be the main factors that mar the speedy implementation of the project.

The 339 km long Khurda - Balangir railway line was sanctioned in 1994-95 and had raised the hopes of the people living in this perennially backward and neglected district. The line, which was supposed to run through Nayagarh, Phulbani, Boudh and Sonepur was expected to provide an impetus to the growth of the district.

The estimated cost of the project was Rs 354 crore initially but now the cost has escalated to Rs700 crore. As many as 17 railway stations, 441 bridges, 11 tunnels and 126 level-crossings were to be constructed as part of the project.

The Railway Ministry made a budgetary allocation of Rs15.38 crore in 2004-05 for the project and has this year earmarked Rs 10 crore, following which work on a 22-km stretch from Khurda was undertaken.

But no public representative of the area is happy with the pace of the project. Phulbani MP Sugriba Singh had also raised the issue in the Parliament sometime ago. Singh had also written a letter to Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, alleging that even one-tenth of the project’s total budget had not been released so far.

The following ad in Samaja gives highlights of two recently launched schemes in agriculture:

• National Food Security Mission (NFSM)
  • The 15 districts in Orissa covered under the NFSM-Rice scheme (as given in page 40 of the above document) are Angul, Balangir, Boudha, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Malkangiri, Nawapara, Nawarangpur, Nayagarh, Phulbani, and Sundargarh.
  • The 10 districts in Orissa covered under the NFSM-Pulse scheme (as given in page 43 of the above document) are Balangir, Baragarh, Cuttack, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Khurda, Nayagarh, Puri, Rayagada.
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY)

(1) ECOR GM Shri Surendra Singh Khurana in his Independence Day address (available at http://eastcoastrailway.gov.in/custom/press_release/index.php) while talking about ECOR, said:

 “With only 4% of the track of Indian Railways, we cater for about 12% of total loading of Indian railway and about 7% of total earning of IR.”

(2) From http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/irfca/messages

For the 2003-2004 and 2004-05 the working expense as part of gross earnings of the ECOR zone is the second best at 66.64% and 61.75% respectively.

• The profit making zones in those years were
  • South east central (62.8% and 56.1%),
  • ECOR (66.64% and 61.75%),
  • North central (76.33% and 66.71%),
  • Central (80.29% and 82.48%),
  • South eastern (81.24% and 83.51%),
  • South Central (85.72% and 83.62%),
  • West Central (80.99% and 84.08%),
  • South Western (91.35% and 86.15%),
  • Western (93.21% and 90.85%),
  • Northern (91.08% and 92.89%) and
  • East Central (93.65% and 98.9%).

• The loss making zones were:
  • metro Kolkata (247% and 264.38%),
  • North Eastern (151.93% and 160.88%),
  • Northeast Frontier (147.98% and 159.45%),
  • Eastern (161.3% and 152.84%),
  • Southern (118.55% and 120.79%) and
  • North Western ( 106.26% and 104.98%).

(3) Based on (1) and (2) above ECOR probably makes about 10% of Indian Railways profit.

Why does not ECOR have the track length commensurate with the earnings it makes?

Why are no serious efforts being made to correct this; especially with many planned lines being given only minimal annual budgets which in many cases are less than the annual inflation.

In terms of rail density: the average rail density (2004-05) for India is 19.13; the rail density is highest in Delhi (138.2) followed by West Bengal (43.4), Punjab (41.6), Haryana (36.1), Bihar (35.9), Uttar Pradesh (35.8), etc. while Chhatisgarh (8.6) and Orissa (14.6) are among the states with low rail densities.

(6) The data from (1-3) and (5) show that while Indian Railways is making a lot of revenue and profit from ECOR (big part of which is in Orissa) and also SER (part of which is in Orissa), both ECOR and Orissa have been grossly neglected. This is true about the past; what about the future?

Mr V. N. Mathur, Member (Traffic) of the Railway Board is reported to have said:

“We’ve submitted to the Planning Commission a Rs 251,000-crore proposal for implementation by the end of the Eleventh Plan. We’ve indicated mobilisation of Rs 90,000 crore from within and 29 per cent of the projected estimate by way of market borrowing. For the balance, we may have to approach the government for support. But then nothing has yet been finalised.”

 (8) Many expensive and highflying plans by Indian Railways for the 11^th plan, but most bypass Orissa and ECOR.

(8A) Freight Corridor: Various news reports suggest that the 11^th plan (next 5-7 years) will take up the western and eastern corridors.

http://www.indianexpress.com/story/9030.html

Western Corridor: 1,483-km Delhi-Mumbai route

http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/17/stories/2006091708640400.htm reports that the “Chennai-Kolkata and Chennai-Mumbai corridors will be included in the second phase of the Dedicated Freight Corridor Project.” 

(8B) High Speed Corridors:

“Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar, Mumbai-Baroda-Ahmedabad, Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore and Howrah-Asansol-Patna — were announced in the current rail budget.”

(8C) Metro Rails and rapid transit systems: From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_India#Metro   and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore_Metro

The following are the existing or under construction/expansion metro rail projects.

• Delhi Metro
• Hyderabad Metro
• Kolkata Metro
• Kolkata Suburban Railway
• Lucknow MEMU 
• Chennai Metro
• Mumbai Suburban Railway
• Bangalore Metro
• Mumbai Metro •
• Thane Metro
• In planning:
  • Ahmedabad Metro
  • Kochi Metro
  • Goa
  • Pune

(9) In essence revenue and profit generated in ECOR is being ploughed into other parts of India, which by itself is not wrong as Orissa is a part of India, but lets analyze who are the losers: the adivasi and backward areas of Orissa (and hence of India) who are backward partly because lack of proper connectivity, and this neglect continues to keep them backward and prevents them from catching up.

No, here are the data and following it is what planning commission teams have themselves said.

(10) The tribal population percentage of the KBK districts are as follows:
Malkangiri 58.36% (+19.96% SC), Rayagada 56.04% (+14.28% SC), Nabarangpur 55.27% (+15.09% SC), Koraput 50.67% (+13.41% SC), Nuapada 35.95% (+13.09% SC), Kalahandi 28.88% (+17.01% SC), Sonepur 22.11% (+9.5% SC), Balangir 22.06% (+15.39% SC). Two adjacent districts also have high tribal population. They are Kandhamala 51.51% (+18.21% SC) and Gajapati 47.88% (+8.77% SC).  Tirbal percentage of Mayurbhanj is 57.87% and Sundergarh is 50.74%.

(11) The literacy rates in the KBK districts are abysmally low. Malkangiri 31.26%, Nabarangpur 34.26%, Rayagada 35.61%, Koraput 36.2%, Nuapada 42.29%, Kalahandi 46.2%, Balangir 54.93%, Sonepur 64.07%. Two adjacent districts also have low literacy: Gajapati 41.73% and Kandhamala 52.95%. The state average is 63.1%.

(12) Population below the poverty line in southern Orissa (of which KBK is a part) is reported to be 89.17% of the people according to the 1999-2000 NSS data and 72% of the families according to the 1997 census.

(13) From http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article174.html

Table 1 provides State level data on poverty ratios during 2004-05. The lowest poverty ratio was 5.4 per cent for Jammu and Kashmir and highest poverty ratio was for Orissa (46.4 per cent). States with poverty ratio of less than 15 per cent were Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh. As against them, States with poverty ratio above 30 per cent were Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Orissa.