Economic Times reported that

Larsen & Toubro, the country’s biggest engineering firm, will invest around Rs 400 crore in its proposed three million tonne alumina refinery joint venture with Dubai Aluminium Company (Dubal) in Orissa. It further said that "The total project cost would be Rs 15,000 crore. L&T would do the engineering, procurement and construction job for the project, which would cost around Rs 5,000 crore. The first phase of the plant at Rayagada with 1.5 million tons capacity is scheduled to be operational by 2010. In another similar report Zee News reported that Dubal will have the majority 74 per cent stake in the venture and the remaining 26 per cent will be with L&T.

Following are excerpts from a statesman report.

Union agriculture secretary Dr Pramod Kumar Mishra …was addressing the 46th foundation day celebration of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT).

The Centre is planning for implementation of two schemes. The first scheme, for which Rs 5,000 crore will be earmarked, will concentrate on rice and pulse. A total of 133 and 168 districts of the country will avail the scheme for rice and pulse respectively. Many districts of Orissa are selected for the scheme, Dr Mishra, said. The second scheme, with Rs 25,000 crore will be implemented with active support of the states. Here the states can propose any project, they feel suitable for them, he added.

“Only rise of production will not solve the problems of the farmers. The post-harvest aspect including processing and marketing are to be taken care of. The premier institutes like OUAT should focus on those type of research, that help the farmers most, Dr Mishra suggested. Keeping this aspect in mind, the Centre is planning to set up three world class modern markets in Orissa,” Dr Mishra, added.

Describing Orissa as one of the leading states in disbursement of crop insurance, he said that the Centre is planning to implement the weather or rain insurance for the welfare of the farmers. He also emphasized on need of study on climate change, food security, maximum utilisation of national horticulture mission, and revitalisation of Extension System (ES), research on seed and opined that in favour of an integrated and holistic approach.

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.

Follow are excerpts from a Statesman report.

The high powered committee headed by chief secretary Mr Ajit Tripathy today cleared 16 investment proposals, entailing an investment of approximately Rs 30,000 crore.

The projects mainly in the power, steel, aluminium and cement sectors were amongst the 40 project proposals placed before the committee. There were three steel and three power projects amongst the 16 which got the nod today.

Significantly while the Ashapura mines chemicals project proposal for a aluminium refinery was approved, the aluminium project of IMFA Group headed by Dr Bansidhar Panda was held up.

… two task forces had been constituted to further evaluate the proposals in the cement and power sectors. The Industry secretary will head the task force for cement sector projects while the development commissioner will be in charge of the task force for power projects, …

The power projects cleared by the committee today included the Bhusan Energy project which intends to establish a 2,000 MW thermal power plant at Angul with an investment of Rs 8,483 crore. The Visa Power Limited’s 1,000 mw Thermal Power plant at Brhamnabasta in Cuttack district at a cost of Rs 3,698 crore was also cleared while the third power project was of Monnet Energy at Sundergarh. It will be a 1,000 mw plant.

The Rs 4,232 crore aluminium project of Ashpura Mines Chemicals to come up in Koraput district was cleared. It aims at setting up a 5 lakh ton refinery and a 1.5 lakh ton smelter plant besides having a 300 MW captive power plant .

The Committee approved the three new steel plant projects and the expansion of existing five steel projects in the state.

Bonei Industry company’s project to set up a plant at Sundergarh at a cost of Rs 302 crore, M/s Rungta Sons Ltd’s proposal to set up a steel plant at Barmunda at a cost of Rs 930 crore and Free Grade company Ltd’s steel plant at Dhenkanal at a cost of Rs 603 crore were also cleared.

Expansion proposals of SMC Power Generation and MSP Mettalics at Jharsuguda, Braja Ispat, Rourkela and the Keonjhar Orient Ispat were given the go ahead by the committee.

ACC Cement’s proposal for investment of Rs 400 crore for its capacity development was approved while Goa Carbons Ltd’s proposal for a CPC coke plant with an investment of Rs 225 crore was also cleared.

Following is from a PIB release.

A project titled ‘Integrated Sewerage Project’ has been approved for Bhubaneshwar under Sewerage sector by Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee in its meeting held on 22.2.07 at an approved cost of Rs.49891.35 lakh. Central share committed for this project is Rs.39913.08 lakh (being 80%). Out of this, a sum of Rs.5158.40 lakh has been released towards first instalment on 24.04.07. The implementation period of this project is 48 months.

A project titled ‘Conservation of the Heritage Tank of Bindusagar’ has also been approved for Bhubaneshwar under ‘Urban Renewal Sector’ by Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee in its meeting held on 9.02.07 at an approved cost of Rs.601.31 lakh. Central share committed for this project is Rs.481.04 lakh (being 80%). Out of this, a sum of Rs.120.26 lakh has been released towards first instalment on 7.3.07. The implementation period of this project of this project is 24 months.

These are not entirely centrally funded projects and only 80 percent of the approved cost is provided as Additional Central Assistance as central share.

This information was given by Shri Ajay Maken, Minister of State in the Ministry of Urban Development in the Rajya Sabha today in a written reply to a question by Shri B.J.Panda and Ms. Pramila Bohidar.

Following is from a PIB release.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has approved funding of the Bogibeel Rail-cum Road Bridge and the Rangia–Murkongselek gauge conversion projects at a cost of Rs1980 crores. Additional Budgetary support will be given to the Railways to complete the projects. A detailed milestone map with target dates is to be prepared for these projects with indication of annual requirement of funds.

The Ministry of Railways will set up a dedicated fund for these projects to ensure timely implementation. The cost overruns will be funded by the Railways from internal resources.

The Prime Minister has directed that a uniform funding pattern, on the same lines, be extended to the remaining five-sanctioned National Projects for the North East Region. A dedicated fund called the “ North East Rail Development Fund” will be set up for the timely completion of these projects. The projects will be completed in five years. The Ministry of Railways will submit a proposal for the approval of the Cabinet.

(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.

Following is Samaja’s report on this.

Following are excerpts from a report in english.chosun.com.

… After a rough start, POSCO is expected to finally have a site allocated for a planned steel mill in India, while an investment in a new Vietnam steel mill is likely to move ahead in October.

According to POSCO on Wednesday, the Indian government recently made it known that they plan to determine whether to give environmental clearance for the 4,004 acre site in Paradip in the province of Orissa.

Some 3,566 acres or 89.1 percent of the site of the planned one-stop steel system belongs to the government. Of that, 3,097 acres (86.9 percent) is forest land. For now, POSCO has only secured 193 acres (4.8 percent).

A POSCO official said, "The final decision has not yet been made, but we heard that the site might be released from the forest zone soon. The state-owned land accounts for nearly 90 percent of our site. In other words, if the area is released from the forest zone, the biggest obstacle to our effort to secure the site disappears."

Following is from a PIB release.

The Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme(BRGF) was approved in the financial year 2006-07.  The Programme has three components, namely, Special Plan for Bihar, Special Plan for the KBK districts of Orissa and the district component covered by the Backward Districts Initiative of the Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana(RSVY) subsumed into the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme from 2006-07. Special plans for Bihar and the KBK districts of Orissa are handled by the Planning Commission. The allocation under the district component of BRGF consists of two funding windows (a) funds for capacity building of Panchayati Raj Institutions and (b) an untied developmental grant.  According to the extant policy, the districts covered under the Rashtriya Vikas Yojana must complete their allocation of Rs. 45 crore per district under the earlier programme before these shift to the BRGF mode of funding. A statement showing the funds released under these three components, State wise from 2005-06 onwards is annexed.

Release of Funds under BRGF Programme

A.        Special Plans for Bihar and KBK districts of Orissa.

                                                 (Rs. in crore)

B.      Backward Districts Initiative- Release of Funds to RSVY districts

…This information was given by Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister of Panchayati Raj, Youth Affairs & Sports and DoNER in the Lok Sabha today in a written reply to a question by Shri Arjun Sethi.

Following is from a PIB release.

Six laning of 6,500 km of National Highways comprising 5,700 km of Golden      Quadrilateral and 800 km of other sections on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis following, Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) pattern has been approved at an estimated cost of Rs.41, 210 crore under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-V, scheduled for completion by December 2012. List of sections of National Highways in different states is given below:

SIX LANING OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

Following is from a PIB.

The Minister of State for Coal Dr. Dasari Narayana Rao informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply today that the exploration activity has established additional resources during Xth Plan period in several coalfields including Orissa and West Bengal. Giving details, he said during the period January, 2006 to March, 2007, 4080 million tonnes of new coal resources have been estimated in the country. As a result the inventory of Geological Resources of Coal in India, prepared by Geological Survey of India (GSI) has increased by 4080 mt as indicated below:

Dr. Rao further informed that out of the total addition of coal resources mentioned above 520 million tonnes have been estimated in the state of West Bengal and 1234 million tonnes in the state of Orissa.

The state-wise and coalfield-wise details of estimation of additional coal resources in blocks where exploration has been concluded during the period from January, 2006 to March, 2007 are given as under:-

The Minister added that based on the potential of the blocks revealed from regional exploration data the detailed exploration is under process in different blocks/areas.

Following is from a PIB.

The Ministry of Railways has decided to constitute a Core Group for monitoring of Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects related to development of World Class Railway Stations including New Delhi Railway Station. The Committee will set up clear timeframe for each of the 22 railway stations, which will be upgraded to world-class stations. The Group will take stock of the progress and also devise a format for compiling a monthly progress report. The move will give further flip to the modernization activities aimed at improving passenger amenities.

The Group will review and strengthen other related departments of Railway Board to enable them to deliver results as per the targets laid down for PPP projects. The Group will also formulate a list of preparatory activities to be completed by the Zonal Railways before any station is taken up for developing as a world class and this would include the dedicated organizational set-up that needs to be created with in the Zonal Railways for this purpose.

Earlier, in a move to make Indian Railways world’s number one Railway network, the Committee on Infrastructure approved the proposal for completing the first phase of modernization of the New Delhi railway station into a world-class station through Public Private Partnership before the Commonwealth Games, 2010. In addition to New Delhi, the other stations would be developed as world class stations are: Agra, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Anand Vihar, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Bijwasan, Chandigarh, Chennai, Mumbai CST, Howrah, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mathura, Patna, Pune, Secunderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Varanasi and Gaya.

The Core Group will consist of high-ranking officials of Railway Board. These are; Member (Engineering), Additional Member (Commercial), Adviser (Infrastructure) and Adviser (Finance). Adviser (Land and Amenities) will function as the Convener of the Committee.

Following are excerpts from a Telegraph report.

Chambal Infrastructure Ventures Limited — of the KK Birla group — today expressed interest in setting up a 2,000MW thermal power plant at an estimated cost of Rs 9,000 crore.

H.S. Bawa, the managing director of Zuari Industries and senior vice-president of Chambal Fertiliser and Chemicals Limited, made a presentation before chief minister Naveen Patnaik this evening regarding the matter. Bawa expressed the multinational’s interest in the project.

In fact, the firm has already applied for 2,000 acre near Siaria in Dhenkanal.

… It had also offered to set up a thermal power plant in a joint venture with PSUs.

The proposal’s appraisal would be made by the state-run Industrial Promotion and Investment Limited, which is a nodal agency for industrial projects.

In turn the agency examines projects before they are referred to a single window clearance committee, which is headed by the chief minister himself.

Meanwhile, the company has applied to the coal ministry for blocks. It has also applied to the water resources department to seek permission to use river water for plants.

If the proposal is cleared by the government, Chambal Infrastructure Venture Limited will be the 14th company to sign an MoU with Orissa government to set up a thermal power plant in Orissa.

Already 13 power companies have signed MoUs for setting up plants with a total capacity of 16,000MW and for am investment of Rs 70,000 crore.

Many have already acquired land and obtained environment clearance, as well as, permission for industrial water use.

Two to three firms have also been allotted coal blocks, Patro added.

Construction of power plants proposed to be set up by Vedanta Power Limited has already started in Jharsuguda.

Following are excerpts from a Business Standard report.

Berhampur Development Authority (BDA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kolkata based real estate company, Forum Private Limited, for construction of a Rs 95.78 crore integrated commercial-cum-residential complex here.

The complex, which will come up under the banner of Gajapati Plaza on a 5 acre plot, will be built on the model of Public Private Partnership (PPP).

Facilities like shopping malls, hotel and entertainment arcade will be provided in the complex, said Sarat Ranjan Patnaik, chairman of BDA.

The executive committee of BDA approved the project on Wednesday and decided to send the proposal to the government for final approval.

According to the proposal, BDA will provide the land to the real estate company on 75 years lease for construction of the complex and will manage it after completion.

… Forum was selected to construct Gajapati Plaza through competitive bidding. BDA had floated tender inviting applications from the companies for construction of the proposed project. While 14 applications were received, only four were selected for pre-qualification bid. Of them only two were in the final bid and Forum was awarded the tender.

Forum, promoted by the Sarafs of Kolkata, had earlier constructed the Forum Mart in Bhubaneswar.

Sarafs were working on a project to set up a titanium dioxide plant near Chhatrapur in Ganjam district.

“The face of the Berhampur will change when the Gajapati Plaza constructed at the Corporation Road, on the side of National Highway 217 in the heart of the city comes up”, he said.

BDA has approved a proposal for construction of Vivek Vihar Phase II, residential housing project and a bypass from Gokarneswar temple to All India Radio office in Berhampur.

According to Patnaik, the housing project would cost about Rs 7.50 crore and would come up over 29 acres at Ambapua at the outskirt of the city. About 100 houses of different categories would be constructed.

The price of the houses would range between Rs 2.81 lakh and Rs 16.34 lakh depending on type.

“We decided to construct the housing project from our own fund”, he said.

BDA has decided to construct 600m by-pass from Gokarneswar temple to AIR office at a cost of Rs 1.69 crore to solve the acute traffic problem in Gate Bazar area here.

(Thanks to Deba Nayak for the pointer to this.)

Following is Samaja’s report on this.

Following is from a PIB.

The Government is committed to create a network of world-class airports in the country with a view to establishing India as a global aviation hub. Measures have been taken to augment capacity as a result of which additional capacity to handle 601.05 lakh passengers per annum on the domestic sector and 301.80 lakh passengers per annum on international sector is under construction and is likely to be commissioned within the next two – three years. This information was given by Shri Praful Patel in a written reply to a question.

The Government has undertaken a number of major projects in pursuance of the above objective; to develop, expand, modernize the airports which include

• Restructuring of Delhi and Mumbai airport, through Joint Venture Route, for upgradation and modernization, at an estimated cost of Rs. 8900 crores and Rs. 7000 crores respectively;
• Modernizing and expansion of Kolkata and Chennai airports by the Airports Authority of India (AAI);
• Construction of new Greenfield airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore at a cost of Rs. 2480 and Rs. 1930 crores respectively. Operation of these airports is expected to be commenced by mid 2008. Greenfield airport at Pekyong, Sikkim at an estimated cost of Rs. 320 crores has been approved. In principle approval has also been accorded to a new international airport at Navi Mumbai through Public Private Partnership (PPP). Greenfield airport is also being envisaged at Mopa (Goa);
• Modernizing of select 35 non-metro airports at an estimated cost of about Rs. 5000 crores. The modernization process of these 35 non-metro airports is expected to be completed by March 2010. The Terminal Building and Air Side works are being undertaken by the AAI while the City Side development at selected 24 non-metro airports will be done through private sector participation;
• Upgradation of communication, navigation and surveillance facilities;
• AAI has spent an amount of Rs. 3535 crores for development/ expansion/modernization of airports during the 10^th Five Year Plan and a provision of Rs. 12434 crores has been made by the AAI in the 11^th Five Year Plan for this purpose;
• Government is encouraging Private Participation/Investments in airport infrastructure through the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP Route) further, Government has also permitted 100% FDI, through automatic route, in Greenfield airports;
• The airports are being constructed and developed at Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh; Shimoga, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Hassan and Karwar in Karnataka, Kannur in Kerala; Chennai in Tamilnadu; Itanagar and Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh; Chiethu in Nagaland; Pekyong in Sikkim; Kokrajhar in Assam; Greater Noida, Agra in Uttar Pradesh; Ajmer (Kishangarh) and Kota in Rajasthan; Halwara in Punjab; Surankote and Kishtwar in Jammu & Kashmir; Durgapur in West Bengal; Sindhudurg, Shirdi, Chakan and Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra;
• There are a large number of non-operational and unused airports in the country belonging to the AAI, defence, state governments and private licensees. The Government is keen to promote development of such airports and make them operational to meet the growing need of airport infrastructure in the country. The airstrips at Pant Nagar, Kamalpur, Kailash Ahar, Passighat, Tezu, Along, Daparizo, Tura and Zero are being upgraded;
• In coordination with the State Governments, the AAI has decided to take up development works at the non-operational airports at Akola, Cooch Behar, Kuddapah, Kolhapur, Mysore, Sholapur, Warangal, Surat and Gondia – on the request of airlines and the State Governments.

Following are excerpts from a UNI report in NewKerala.

Employment opportunities for 10,000 youths in the textile sector would be created annually in Orissa through training, … The training would be imparted jointly by the state government and the Karrur Textile Manufacturer Association of Tamil Nadu through the Employment Mission, …

The decision was taken after the representatives of Handloom Export Promotion Council, Madurai Textile Exporter Association, Tamil Nadu, Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Madurai and Karrur Textile Manufacturer Association held discussion with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here.

A pilot project for the training will be launched in Ganjam district.

The youths, who completed the training, would be given employment in various textile centres of Madurai, the sources

The following is reproduced verbatim from Tathya.in with its permission.

Bhubaneswar:20/August/2007
Known as an open minded Railways top notch, Surendra Singh Khurana quietly dropped a bomb shell on the Independence Day.

The East Coast Railways (ECOR) General Manager (GM) pointing out the strength of Zone said that “With only 4 per cent of the track of Indian Railways (IR), we cater for about 12 per cent of total loading and we earn 7 per cent of the total earnings of IR”.

Being part of the Railway establishment there is not much more that he can say to indirectly point out the unfairness of Indian Railways towards ECOR and the State of Orissa and parts of Chhatisgarh and Andhra Pradesh that is covered by ECOR.

However the incompetent Orissa leadership did not able to take ECOR GM’s hint – Orissa and its tribal areas continue to suffer, thanks to the apathy of the IR authorities.

The people of Orissa are doubly unfortunate that on top of this level of unfairness of Indian Railways, it also has an incompetent leadership and a callous bureaucracy which can not take such an obvious hint.

Mr.Khurana set an agenda to make a coherent argument and take it to the Prime minister, Railway minister and the Planning Commission and convince them that IR must spend the same percentage, if not more, of its revenue that it gets from ECOR, in the areas covered by ECOR.

This is inexplicable in the current environment where the PM seems to be open to such logic, as shown by his pronouncements regarding central universities in each state that does not have one and other recent HRD initiatives.

The argument for spending more than the revenue percentage is multi-fold: long term past neglect by the IR of the ECOR areas, especially KBK and adjacent districts in Andhra Pradesh and Chhatisgarh; backwardness of these areas; the high tribal population of these areas; and need for rapid development in these areas so as to prevent then from further slipping into the Maoist folds.

All the Orissa government, its MPs and its bureaucrats have done in the past is to make some empty noises around the time of the Railway budget, which predictably gets cowed down by all other states making similar noises, and then they forget about it to slip into slumber.

Considering that ECOR among the top profitable railway zones it might as well be the case that close to 10 per cent of the total profit of IR comes from ECOR.

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

In the 2004 Railway budget the then Railway minister Nitish Kumar had proposed the Remote Area Rail Sampark Yojana which aimed to complete lines like Khurda-Balangir to be completed within the next 5 years.

Now this plan has been completely derailed by the present UPA government.

The Railways while making its big plans for freight corridors to be taken up in Eleventh Plan, high-speed rail and metros, it seems that the ECOR areas are completely forgotten.

The Prime Minister in his speeches and the UPA in its manifesto talk about even development across India and especially development of tribal etcetera, the ground action is exactly opposite.

The Planning Commission members as well as teams that visit KBK talk about the importance of Rail connectivity to raise these areas out of backwardness, why is it that the Indian Railways (especially under UPA), has completely forgotten about the backward and tribal areas of ECOR.

The Central government putting onerous conditions (such as 50 per cent match by the state) on development of lines such as the KBK related lines (and similar lines in ECOR areas of Chhatisgarh) when it knows very well that those states do not have the ability for the matching fund?

Does the central government want that districts like KBK should remain inaccessible and thus poor and backward for ages?

Does the central government want that these areas should slip further and further into the hands of the extremists?

Now it is the high time for Railways, being the largest employers of the world should establish a production unit in the tribal area (such as KBK) where it can more easily employ more tribals and thus help them in a bigger way.

But alas! Who will take up the issues?

Almost everybody those who matters are busy in their own game pushing plan and the ECOR finds it self in funds crunch for taking up long pending projects of the areas.

Are you listening the Chief Minister ?