layman's space

Saturday, 14 July 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Tweet Over 200 tribal and dalit artisans, mostly women, of Komna block in Nuapada district have seen a drastic fall in their income due to the closure of the Khadi production industry located in a nondescript village, Sandhibaheli. It was probably the only one Khadi industry in Odisha managed by the artisans themselves that was developed with determination and hard labour over two decades. That the artisans never approached any one, not even the Government, for financial support to establish this industry reflects their self-determination and respect. “Whatever you see here -- the work-shed, processing unit, the deep bore-well and all these charkhas (spinning wheels) and Khatkhati (manual weaving machines) -- had been purchased by us. The land on which this establishment stands belongs to our organisation Kalahandi Vikash Parishad (KVP). We w...

Monday, 09 July 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 Tweet Hoodwinked by some unscrupulous contractors and brokers, several beneficiaries of the Awas Yojana in Buergaon and Bhainsadani GPs of Boden block in Nuapada district have given up their hope of completing their houses. Dambru Majhi, a poor old and disabled man of Nimna village in Buergaon panchayat living with his wife in a small temporary, has been waiting for the contractor to arrive. "One Subrat Majhi, a staff of the SBI Boden branch, came to us and informed that the first instalment has been deposited in our bank account. When he volunteered to construct our house, we agreed and gave our signatures in the withdrawal forms. He took all the money from my account but didn't start work. If we don't construct the plinths, the second instalment will not be released," said Dambru. Basanti Majhi, a widow of Dhamnapada village under the s...

Sunday, 08 July 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar         Tweet The longstanding demand of people of Khariar for establishment of a Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) was fulfilled with the inauguration of a 10-bed NRC at Khariar on Friday. The NRCs are meant for restoring severely acutely malnourished (SAM) children to good health while educating their mothers about nutrition and childcare. The scheme has been lunched under a collaborative scheme of the Unicef and the Government. The Khariar NRC is the second one in Nuapada district after the first one was established a few years ago in the district headquarters. Collector Dr Poma Tudu inaugurated the centre in the presence of hundreds of women, panchayat representatives and Government officials including CDMO Shankar Prashad Meher, Khariar PHC gynaecologist Dr Dinabandhu Mahanand, Manager of NGO World Vision NGO Sukanta Nag, DPM Biswambar Beh...

Tuesday, 26 June 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar         Tweet Hiradhar Kata has two sons, both married and are having children. They are in occupation of a small piece of Government land inside Khariar town since long. "It is for more than fifty years that the land is in their possession," said Kata, who lamented that they are yet to getoccupancy right as yet. Lambodar Banchhor lives in a hut built on the embankment of Gudhel Bandh, a traditional water body. "He will not get the occupancy right here, because it is a common land," said the Revenue staffs. There are about 200 such households living in small huts inside Khariar town, according to an estimate done by the Khariar NAC. Almost all these households are occupying these lands for decades, but these encroachments have not yet been settled in their names. They are very poor people leading their lives with petty trades and wage labours ...

Saturday, 23 June 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar         Tweet At the outset of the Kharif season, farmers of Nuapada district are desperate. A majority of them were not able to save paddy seed last year due to severe drought. They are now queuing up in front of the seed distributors to buy seeds. The cooperative society of Khariar which is one of the 26 Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) of the district had received 45.20 quintals of seeds of long and medium duration varieties on Tuesday last. “The stock exhausted on a single day,” said the salesman of Khariar PACS. “Last Kharif season, we had sold about 100 quintals but this year the demand seems to be more, may be about 300 quintals,” added the society staff. Khariar society had deposited draft for 50 quintals at Rs2,705 per quintal on June 5 last; but the price raised to Rs2,905, when the stock arrived on July 19; so the societ...

Tuesday, 19 June 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar 1 2 3 4 5 The Revenue Department of the Chhattisgarh Government is learnt to have distributed about 30 acres of land of Nuapada district among farmers of its bordering villages. The matter came to the fore after 12 farmers of Nuamalpada village under Sinapali block recently lodged complaints to the block chairperson that the lands had been allotted to them in Nuamalpada village bordering Burjabahal village of Chhattisgarh in 1990s. But revenue officials of Mainpur tehasil of Chhattisgarh’s Gariabandh district have now shown those lands to five landless people of Burjabahal village, who are now planning to build their houses on those lands. "These lands are the only source of livelihood for us, the Minor Irrigation department of the Odisha Government has already constructed an irrigation project to provide protective irrigation to these lands and at ...

Wednesday, 13 June 2018   |   AJIT PANDA   | NUAPADA | in   Bhubaneswar         Tweet The Dalit Adhikar Manch, Khariar held a meeting on Monday under the leadership of its president Kamal Charan Tandi to discuss about the problems of electricity and health services in Khariar, Sinapali and Boden blocks of Nuapada district. “Electricity supply is irregular and it is tripping several times in a day. Not only this, there is also the problem of low voltage. Electricity tariff is on the rise, but the quality of service has not improved. Why should the consumer bear the burden of such irregularity and low quality,” questioned the activists. Regarding the availability of services in Community Health Centre (CHC) at Khariar, the members expressed concern over the vacancies in the posts of doctors and lack of quality services. “About 300 patients visit this CHC every day which include patients of the neighbouring areas eve...