Are We Ready For Koshal ?
The western odisha's biggest movement ...!!
Odisha's major problem is that we don't have a good leader. I love Biju Patnaik but after that, no such kind of leader has emerged in Odisha. Yes, not even Naveen Patnaik.
The most tragic scene is, most dumbest leaders are emerging from Koshal area itself. We are fighting amongst ourselves. One Sambalpuria can't stomach the statement of the people of Bolangir. Bargarh is acting like an inert gas. Bargarh itself gave birth to leaders like Prasanna Acharya and Anada Acharya. What have they given to Bargarh, after ruling for almost two terms?
Next come to the famous Singhdeo dynasty of Bolangir. After ruling for almost 30 years, what did they do, besides putting the name of Bolangir on the list of KBK?
Our opposition leader hasn't found any kind of loophole in ruling party. Nor do they have any chance to bounce back in the upcoming election.
Koshal state is inevitable because of variety of reasons, but primarily because it is in accord with emerging trends. It is begining to become evident that bigger states do not necessarily manage their resources better, especially human resource.
The fear that Koshal and Odisha will be further disadvantaged once separated simply do not hold water. Both MP and Chhattisgarh are better off after separation. Bihar is on mend under Nitish Kumar after separation from Jharkhand; it is concentrating on overall development of the state, particularly on human resource, now that it cannot depend on easy money obtained from mining operations in Jharkhand.
Even Uttaranchal is beginning to show progress concentrating on its own resources which remained untapped when it remained with UP. Sure they are going through teething problems, but on the whole all, these new entities are on the mend.
In the case of Odisha and Koshal, several studies done since its inception suggest that inter-regional variance is increasing, and the gaps are getting bigger with no sign of abetment. There is no sense of urgency or inclination to reverse this trend.
Koshal is emerging as the most polluted part of Odisha. KBK area is languishing for decades even after alarm bell had been sounded decades ago. Odisha government has no mining policy, yet mining is going on in full spate for much of the last century.
Even if huge amount of mineral resources is known to be stolen away (and is being stolen away), Odisha government steadfastly opposes any CBI enquiry even though its own government apparatus is incapable of stopping the loot.
Odisha government has lost touch with people beyond this sixty-mile zone (Bhubaneswar). Our Adivashi population, who constitute nearly a fourth of the population, has been singularly impacted from such deliberate neglect.
More recently, the government has turned hostile towards this population. Unfortunately, both Koshal and South Orissa contain the bulk of this population.
Anyway, protest has been started to show the anger, people of Kalahandi are not in favour of being included in the proposed Koshal State, said members of Mahakantara Kriyanusthan Committee. They held a meeting here on Wednesday and said Kalahandi should not be included in the proposed Koshal State considering the district’s historical, linguistic and economic differences with other areas of Western Odisha. Koshal region is considered to comprise Boudh, Sonepur, Balangir, Nuapada, and Kalahandi.
However, members of Mahakantara Kriyanusthan Committee said Kalahandi was historically never a part of Koshal region. In the 5th century AD, it was a part of Mahakantara with its capital city being in Narla and in 7th century, it was a part of the historical Trikalinga. Till independence, it was known as Karunda and the kings were known as Karundadhipati.
They alleged that economic condition of people of Kalahandi has not improved till date, but by claiming the region as backward, some of the Western Odisha districts are grabbing all development projects and Government schemes. In the '80s, there was a mass movement in Kalahandi to set up a special development board in the district under Article 371 of the Constitution.
This ultimately resulted in formation of Western Odisha Development Council and other districts reaped the benefit from it. Educationally too, Kalahandi has not archived much in all these years. In the absence of adequate number of colleges and a university, the gross enrolment ratio of the district continues to be low at 8.7 per cent. In the Education Policy-2016, which is being framed by the Higher Education Department, Kalahandi finds no mention.
Key to this is undivided focus on human resource development, and to create an ambiance of trust between people and the government.We have to learn from the blunders of Odisha, which made it dysfunctional.
Odisha govt need to understand that Odisha is a state, and there are a lot of people living and taking part in democratic process of nation outside of the much-pampered state capital.
They also vote and they have the right to question the government.
I have compiled a ten-point agenda excluding some western districts (like Boudh, Nuapada , Debgarh.)
All state resources must be equitably distributed across the regions. Overcentralisation of state institutions and deployment of resources over a small part have been the main fault lines of Odisha; these must be avoided.
Policies and procedures must be established to institute decentralisation based upon proximity, accessibility and pragmatics.
We simply cannot afford to marginalise a huge chunk of population and expect progress. The Adivashi population is integral part of the state, and is a source of our strength.
We shouldn't halt the progress of Western Odisha by calling "bandhs" and "dharanas" in every 2 months.
Sundargarh and Jharsuguda have maximum potential to gain the royalties from the companies around there.They need to be a little bit cautious in this process of accleration .
Sambalpur happens to be a big hub for Western Odisha, and in today's time, this is one of the messiest cities of Odisha. It is growing in population rapidly, but we don't have any particular plan yet to preserve this beautiful city.
Govt. should make Bolangir as a manufacturing hub so that we can engage maximum youth of that area.
Bargarh is growing as a business hub, government should accelerate this trend by helping budding entrepreneurs.
We can make Sonepur as a tourist place, Sonepur has a lot of potential for attracting tourists, only it is lackng government's aid.
Kalahandi and Koraput need special attention. Anyway, there are a lot of programs for these areas, only thing required is close observation as to the implementation of these programs