layman's space

MANY N’PADA PROJECTS FAIL TO TAKE OFF DESPITE FUNDS Saturday, 23 September 2017  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 In spite of availability of funds for improvement of health facilities and infrastructure in Khariar block, the Health Department is sitting undone due to non-availability of encroachment-free land. The Mother and Child Health Care (MCH) unit constructed with an expenditure of Rs  4 crore is of no use as the ownership of the land where it has been constructed is now claimed by a private person. An amount of Rs  75 lakh sanctioned a few days ago by the Government for furnishing of that building is also lying unutilised due to the conflict. The National Health Mission Directorate has sanctioned an amount of Rs  1.68 crore for construction of the CHC building, Rs  50 lakh for drug warehouse and Rs  10 lakh for establishment of a Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre (NRC...

LOWER INDIRA PROJECT WORK QUALITY QUESTIONED Friday, 22 September 2017  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Work quality of the Lower Indira Irrigation Project (LIIP) in Nuapada district has come under a cloud again after a village road bridge (VRB)-cum-fall constructed in 2014 across the escape canal near village Bhulia Sikuan of Khariar block was damaged. The half-km-long escape canal is meant for releasing excess water from the left main canal to the Arjuni river. The VRB across the canal was a medium to reach the farmlands on the other side.  An amount of Rs one crore was spent for the whole system. The earth and plinth underneath the VRB and the fall (concrete slope) have been totally washed away due to scouring caused by a heavy flow of water on Tuesday. Project sources reveal that the construction quality work was below-standard. “Two officials, Sitanshu Sekhar Dash and Panchanan Naik, wer...

NUAPADA SSA PROJECT COORDINATOR UNDER SCANNER Monday, 18 September 2017  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 The District Project Coordinator (DPC), Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), has come under severe criticism for violating rules in allotment of tender and giving repeated time extensions to a Kolkata-based company for installation of solar water pumps in various primary schools of Nuapada district.  The project funded by the Coal India under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was intended to set up water supply system for toilets through installation of solar PV power based submersible water pumps in the existing water sources. Four bidders had participated in the tender bid in response to a notice published in the district websites of Nuapada as well as in the OPEPA website on September 4, 2015 for execution of the project. Applications of three bidders were rejected on technical ground and the tender ...

FREE ANTI-MALARIA INJECTION ‘INEFFECTIVE’ Friday, 15 September 2017  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Artesunate, one of the free drugs under Niramaya scheme used for malaria treatment, is not available in any of the Government hospitals of Nuapada district. “The stock is available in the district drug warehouse, but cannot be given as it has tested NSQ,” says the CDMO, Nuapada. Here NSQ stands for “Not of the Standard Quality”, which means, the drug may not create required impact on the patients. Kapura Chhatria (15) of Kotipadar village under Khariar block was found malaria positive after blood test in a private pathology at Khariar. The quack, who treated her charged Rs 700 for one Artesunate injection. The treatment stopped after one dose, as she was unable to pay more to continue the treatment. Artesunate is one of the 570 free drugs made available to people under Niramaya scheme free of cost ...

FORGET HOUSE, THESE HOMELESS EVEN DENIED TARPAULIN SHEET Thursday, 14 September 2017  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 The Government is giving a major thrust on housing scheme to provide shelter to the houseless persons, but there are still many who are yet to be included under these schemes. Dinabandhu Barik of Junani village of Nuapada district is one such unfortunate person, who is running from pillar to post for last four years to get a shelter. “I have applied to the BDO and the Panchayat authorities several times since my house collapsed in 2014, but no one took pity on my condition,” lamented Dinabandhu, who now lives with his wife under a Tarpaulin shed. It was on August 7, 2014, at about 4 am one of the mud walls of his house collapsed due to continuous rain for two days. “God saved us from death but our lives have become hell,” added Dinabandhu, who had applied to the Tehsildar for som...

NUAPADA TRIBAL GIRLS’ INTEREST IN EDU ON RISE Thursday, 07 September 2017  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Hiramati Jhankar, a tribal girl of Sanbaheli village in Nuapada district, passed Class X examination in first division in 2017, but could not take admission in +2 because her parents could not afford the cost of the studies. Jaiphula Tandi of Babebir village has also a similar story. She passed in first division, but due to financial problems, could not take higher education. Jaimanee Jhankar, a PVTG girl of Sunabeda village completed her +3 in Botany securing 66 per cent in Khariar Autonomous College, and though she took admission in MSc Botany in Rajendra College at Bolangir, she is unable to go there as hostel seat was not available. "I cannot afford for the accommodation outside," says her father Biju Jhankar. There are many such girls, mostly tribals and Dalits, in Nuapada district, who ...

N’PADA FARMER SHOWS WAY; DOUBLES INCOME IN 5 YEARS Monday, 04 September 2017  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA | in  Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Tiritram Patel of Bhera village of Godphula panchayat in Nuapada district has set an inspiring example by doubling his income from agriculture in five years. Tirit's family consists of eight persons, including his wife and school/college going children, parents and brother. "It was difficult for us to manage our family with a single yearly crop i.e. paddy. Now it is diversified, paddy in rainy season, followed by vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage and tomato in the first round and again cauliflower, ladies finger and bitter guard in the second round," says Tirit. "The income from vegetables, especially from gobi and bhindi is Rs 1.5 lakhs per season," he claims. The family has repaid all loans incurred five years before for cultivation of paddy, which failed regularly due to unc...