A View: Neglected South Orissa

Contributor: Annada Prasad Udgata,
Email: apudgata@yahoo.com
May 8, 2009

We are called dakshini because we are from south Orissa. Are we considered second class citizens in Orissa itself? Are our area considered second to north Orissa? Is it because we accepted it like that? Is it because we are not aware of our rights? Or because we do not shout for it. Are we content with what we get? Do we have problems and grievances? If we have any, are all our ex and present chief ministers not aware of our problems? Do not they know that we do not have proper roads, proper schools, many are also unemployed? Do they know that there are many people leave Orissa for other states because they do not get two meals a day. What has the government done for south Orissa in their entire 60 years after independence? Orissa signed MOU with many companies for Rs. 4,00,000 crores investment for the year 2006-2007 and Rs. 7,00,000 crores for 2008-2009. Where is this investment gone? Did a part of that even reach south Orissa? Look at Bhubaneshwar -Rourkela road of around 400 kms, which is known as steel belt, look at kalinga Nagar. Every few kilometer has a factory. This Rs. 400000 crores and Rs. 700000 cr is gone there or going to go there. What we got is the news that Orissa is prospering at par with Maharashtra and Gujurat. Why can not they put those factories and that money in South Orissa?

Why our local elected representative could not even do anything for us? Why there are more number of ministers from north Orissa? Are they more intelligent? Why is this disparity? They cannot create employment, they can not industrialise our area, they cannot give us jobs, they cannot give us any guarantee of income. If not, then how do they become our leaders and guardians? Why should we elect them? We are a mineral rich state, yet we are not self sufficient. One look at other states will tell a different story. How do the other states prosper even though they are not mineral rich states? How is that possible for other states?

People out side Orissa do not know where the state is! If at all some body knows then knows by Kalahandi, death due to starvation, which was visited way back by Late Rajiv Gandhi.Then Rahul Gandhi visited Gunupur to brandise Orissa as a tribal state or by kandhamal for the recent riots. If we are a tribal state do our politicians do any thing for us? True, that people die in these areas due starvation and malnutrition. What did our politicians do for them? Did the govt. try to give an occupation or some work to the poor to feed themselves? Yet we elect them again and again and they betray us. Many of our intellectuals go out of the state by not finding enough opportunity to use their trained skill. How many people from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat come to Orissa or go to other states to earn their lively hood or to study? Why is this centralisation of resource? Orissa remains an ignored state because of our inefficient leaders. So what ever they got are channelised to northern part of orissa and they are content that they did a good job. Why cannot Infosys, TCS and Wipro have an office in Koraput or Bolangir. If Nagpur, Aurangabad and Baroda can become a prominent investment destination, why cannot Malkanigiri, Baudh, Nawarangpur or Mohanaa? Karnataka and Hyderabad can become cybercities not Bramhapur. Why?

Our farmers are not able to farm their land because of lack of water supply and other problems. Why have we less dams and canals? Who will make them? These farmers and their keens go to other states and work as labour. Few of them die unnatural death due to accident at site and incurable diseases due to overwork and expose to vulnerable conditions.

Why do our students go to other state to study? Why can not we have our own colleges? How many IAS or IPS officers Orissa generates a year compared to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh? Do you think we are not capable or intelligent to become IAS or IPS? Answer is, we are not trained. If it is true, who is responsible for that? Why can not we have our own facility, instead we depend on other states for every thing? Why business men go Raipur, Kolkotta and Vishakhapatnam for shopping? Why cannot people from these states come to Jaipur or Phulbani?

Why are not we connected with railways? Many people from south Orissa have not seen a train in their life. If there is no infrastructure development, then how do we prosper? Why there is no will, no political inclination to do that? How long we suffer? All our Ex/ current CMs are from north Orissa. Even if they are from south Orissa, they feel ashamed to say that they belong to south Orissa. No govt. does any thing special for south Orissa. But all Chief Ministers get elected from South Orissa to do better for North Orissa.

Do we have patience to tolerate them? They are here to commit for betterment and betray us. No. We will not trust these sweet talkers any more. The only cure is let us fight for our selves. Let the people of south Orissa get united raise our voice to help our selves and fight with the system to make a number one state. Join the movement. Jai Hind.