layman's space

Wednesday, 07 March 2018   |   Ajit Panda   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Tweet The issue of fake displaced persons (DPs) seems to have taken a deep root in the rehabilitation and resettlement (R and R) process in the Lower Indra Irrigation Project (LIIP) of Nuapaada district. Some DPs who feel that they are deprived of their due rights due to the corrupt practices of the R and R unit of the LIIP have drawn attention of the Principal Secretary, Department of Water Resources (DoWR),  Odisha. “We have drawn attention of the Principal Secretary repeatedly, but no step has been taken,” lamented Karunakar Hota, one of the complainants. According to the complaint, the R and R unit of the LIIP has allegedly paid Rs14 lakh as assistance to two fake DPs of Komna and is going to release another Rs 48 lakh to eight fake DPs of Dumerbahal, which are partially affected villages. “These families have been included in th...

Monday, 05 March 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Tweet If you want to have organic food, you would have to do it yourself. It is possible even in a small patch of land. This has been proved by Jabanika Bagartti of Khariar town of Nuapada district. The vegetable garden in about ten-decimal area in her backyard is now full of vegetable plants with some having fruits and others flowering. Jabanika is a homemaker. She spends one to two hours daily in her garden to take care of the plants. "It is my hobby; I enjoy it," she says while plucking a yellow cucumber from a plant and presenting it to this correspondent. "Everyone of our family spares sometime in the garden," she adds. There are twelve rows of raised soil beds having as many as ten types of plants, not only local varieties also species that are not usually cultivated in the locality; like yellow cucumber, lettuce and broccoli. Other var...

Sunday, 04 March 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 People of Bargaon village in Sinapali block of Nuapada district voiced their concerns over irregularities and corruptions in MGNREGS works in their village. They complained that about Rs10 lakh has been misappropriated by corrupt officials through manipulation of muster rolls (MR). “We have drawn attention of the block and district administrations on this issue but no action has been taken,” they said. The corruption issue raised by the villagers is related to the MGNREGS projects in Bargaon village undertaken in two locations. One is the renovation of a pond and the other is improvement of the road from Botopali to Nariabaheli village. Basing on the information downloaded from the Government website, the people complained that the officials have misappropriated the fund by making fake entries in the muster rolls. "The website shows that the wor...

Tuesday, 27 February 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 People of Dabri village of Boden block have given up hope of getting fluoride-free drinking water since long. The village has about 200 households with eight hand pumps, but none of these water sources is fluoride free according to the villagers. "The administration had marked those with red colour long back stating those unsafe for drinking, but due to non-availability of water we are forced to use those sources," the villagers said. Most of the people above 40 years complain of joint swelling and waist stiffness and pain. Asanti Hans (35) has a swollen ankle, Pita Hans (40) has knee pain and there are many others with such complaints. As the people grow older, the complications increase. Information available in the website of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, however, mentions that only one out of the eight hand pumps, which is l...

Tuesday, 13 February 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Shamsundar Paharia of Khadang village of the Sunabeda plateau in Nuapada district died of prolonged illness on February 6 without having any treatment. A Press clipping of the story on his health status published on February 3 had been sent to the district Collector; and a tweet was also made @CMO_Odisha with a hope that the administration might bring succor to Shamsundar.  But no action was taken. Shamsundar succumbed to his illness leaving his four children, wife and old deaf mother helpless. “Who cares; everyone knows that death of a poor man of a remote village would not make any difference to the district administration or the CM because we are voiceless. Several poor people of the Sunabeda plateau have died before due to lack of treatment and the number will continue to rise unattended and unnoticed. It is also uncertain whether Ban...

Tuesday, 06 February 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Will the children of Khadang village of the Sunabeda plateau in Nuapada district ever get supplementary nutrition (SN) under the ICDS? It still remains a question even after a year of the issue being raised by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Nuapada, and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), New Delhi. Twenty-two children of this remote hamlet of Sunabeda village have been enrolled at the Anganwadi Centre of Junapani, but due to long distance of the centre, the children never get the benefits of the ICDS, not even the immunisation facility. The issue was raised in a story in The Pioneer in March 2017. The NCPCR had called for a report from the district administration basing on this report. The District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), responding to a letter from the CWC, Nuapada in December, 2016 and subsequently to...

Saturday, 03 February 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Tweet Truth is stranger than fiction. Looking at the situation of Shamsundar Paharia of Khadang village of Sunabeda plateau, one will realise this. Shamsundar is laying immobile for last couple of days due to illness. He is sick for last five months, without having any treatment. “We don't have money for his treatment. I am wondering, how to take care of our children after his death," said his bereaved wife Banbasi, as if she knows that Shamsundar is going to die in a few days.  Khadang is a remote village in Sunabeda plateau of Nuapada district. The plateau, about 3000 feet above sea level, has been declared as a Maoist infested region. Due to presence of security forces (CRPF), the Maoists are at bay, but health services which remained unavailable during the active presence of the Maoists still remains unreached for the people ...

Saturday, 20 January 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar Replying to a Tweet @CMO Odisha on the issue of delay in providing Government benefits under the widow pension and old age pension schemes to some excluded persons of Nuamalpada village in Sinapali block, the Nuapada district Collector has assured that all Government benefits would be provided to the beneficiaries at the earliest. The report on the situation of fluoride-affected people of Nuamalpada published in The Pioneer on January 9 was attached in the Tweeter account of the Chief Minister. Taking that into account the CM’s grievance cell had directed the district authority to link the excluded persons with the pension schemes by holding field camps. The Collector had instructed the block officials of Sinapali for an inquiry; and after getting the report, she posted her reply to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). “All Govt. benefits will be provided to the above beneficiaries at a...