layman's space

Grassroots, Press Institute of India Breaking tradition to give women a new lease of life Ajit Panda, Naupada, Odisha Baidehi and Biju, a couple from the particularly vulnerable Chakotia Bhunjia Tribe, have braved social ostracism to break age-old traditions of discrimination against women. Thanks to them, the girls of the remote Odisha area are being sent to school, and now have a future to look forward to Jemanee Jhankar of Sunabeda Village of Nuapada District of Odisha will be the first woman from her community to acquire a bachelor’s degree. She is in the last semester of an undergraduate science course. The path thus far has been far from easy for her. She and her parents have struggled hard, in both social and economic terms, to be able to achieve this much. Jemanee belongs to Chakotia the Bhunjia Comm-unity – one of the PVTGs (particularly vulnerable tri-bal groups) of Odisha. Up to 1997, not a single girl from the community had attended school. The first g...

Friday, 12 May 2017  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Collection of mahua flowers has ended this year. The yield was better compared to last year but far low than the yield people got in the previous year. “That was the peak year,” says Budhuram Paharia of Bhainsadani village, referring to the yield he got two years ago. He had earned Rs 10,000 then whereas the earning last year was only Rs 500 which increased to Rs 1,500 in the current season. The price of mahua last year started with Rs  20 a kg and increased up to Rs  28 in the last phase, which made people think that the price would be fair this year; but unfortunately, it plummeted to Rs 14 after an initial high of Rs 25. Jagabandhu Majhi of Karandaba village in Khariar block had earned Rs 55,000 from 26 quintals of mahua flower last year; but this year, it would be less than Rs 20,000 although the collection is a little bit more...

Wednesday, 10 May 2017  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Fluoride has become a menace for Nuapada district. The number of persons suffering from fluorosis is on the rise due to regular use of fluoride-affected water. Health checkups conducted on a sample of 10 per cent of the population has revealed that about 28 per cent is now suffering from fluososis. The impact of fluorosis on children is higher, i.e., more than 30 per cent.  This is the finding of a survey conducted by NGO RCDC in August-September 2015. Trained personnel of the NGO had conducted checkup of 35,121 persons in 148 villages and 249 schools spreading over 25 gram panchayats of five blocks. When the sample taken in villages was eight per cent to 10 per cent of the total population in each village, the coverage in the schools was about 88 per cent of the children. Out of the 35,121 people covered under health screening, 22,096 ...

Wednesday, 10 May 2017  |  PNS  | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 About 400 hectares of Rabi paddy crop in Saipala and Khairani gram panchayats of Nuapada district has been destroyed by pest attack. Agriculture officials reveal that the pest is stem borer, which can destroy paddy crop at any stage of the plant from seedling to maturity. The pest feeds upon tillers and cause drying of the central tiller during vegetative stage and cause whiteheads at reproductive stage. The paddy fields now look pale and dead everywhere. The pests spread so fast that application of a variety of pesticides did not work, say villagers. “It will be a loss of more than 2,000 tonnes of paddy worth about `3 crore,” says district president of BJP Krushak Morcha Sanjay Tiwari, who visited the damaged fields with other BJP members on Monday to assess the loss. The DDA and other agricultural staffs also visited the fields. The area is ...

Saturday, 29 April 2017  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 When the Sundar Irrigation Project reservoir swells on arrival of rain, the village Chhelkanipada in Nuapada district loses the connectivity being marooned by water on all sides and people are deprived of basic facilities at least for three months. The wait to get the link to the market and all other facilities ends only towards November when the water recede and the walking path to reach the nearest road at one km far is opened. Chhelkani Pada village, located in Darlipada panchayat of Komna block, has fifteen households. Remaining marooned for over three months of a year creates a lot of difficulties for the people here. “We don’t even get the basic necessities of our lives. Our children are deprived of their supplementary nutrition and education as the Anganwadi Centre and the schools remain out of the reach,” say villagers. “Newborns and pre...

Sunday, 09 April 2017  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 The Nuapada district administration seems to have gone into deep slumber when matters relating to corruption are concerned. In spite of regular complaints and public protests, there is hardly any action. This has been proved yet again in the implementation of three road construction works in Kotenchuan panchayat of the district.  The road works from Colony Pada to Salebhata, Bhunjiapada to Aanlajuba and Jamdarha to Tengnabasa in this panchayat of Nuapada block were started under the Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana (GGY) just before the panchayat elections with estimates costs of Rs 3 lakh each. Seventy per cent of the estimated funds were shown utilised, but the physical progresses were less than 30 per cent in each case. Following public protest led by activists of the Congress party, an inquiry was ordered by the district administration, but now...