Post note ban deposits: Chit money under scanner
Huge cash deposits in the Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) accounts post demonetisation have cast its shadow on Odisha. Now when the Union Ministry of Finance has announced investigation of each of these accounts where black money is deposited in huge quantity, there is panic among the depositors as well as the account holders. The Ministry suspects that chit fund money has found its way to such accounts in a big scale and the Centre is not going to spare anybody who will be found guilty of parking their ill gotten money in these accounts. While trying to corner Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Bhubaneswar, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan hinted at, such investigation over the huge cash deposits by black money hoarders. He reminded the people about the real motive of the Chief Minister when he requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow deposits of demonetized currency notes in District Central Cooperative Banks. During November and December 25, 2016 about Rs 714 crore has been deposited in Jandhan accounts in the country and Odisha has a lion’s share according to data provided by the State level Bankers Committee (SlBC). From Rs 1,744.68 crore as on September 30, 2016, the PMJDY deposits swelled to Rs 2,675 crore within three months of demonetization. This will be yet another scam for Odisha and the so-called poor State will continue to remain under the CBI scanner.
The Centre, it seems, has a secret agenda of spilling the beans for gainful declaration only close to the general elections of 2019.
Mahanadi not to influence rural voters
Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh has accused the Odisha Government of raising the Mahanadi issue for political gain. During his election campaign in Odisha, he said Chhattisgarh is Odisha’s younger brother. The water dispute could be resolved in one hour if the two brothers sit together and discuss among themselves. Chhattisgarh is using only 4 per cent of Mahanadi river water as against 14 per cent by Odisha and the rest is drained into the sea, claimed Singh. The BJD, on the other hand, criticized the Chhattisgarh CM for trying to mislead the people of Odisha. In the absence of any clarification about construction of barrages over Mahanadi, it is apparent that people in Odisha are suspicious of nefarious design to supply water to industries. By raking up the issue ahead of the panchayat polls, the BJD Government is engaged in a blame game to scuttle the growing popularity of BJP in Odisha, he alleged. For the same reason, the Congress is also not refrained from hurling slur by putting the Central Government on the dock. All said and done, the BJD could not make Mahanadi water dispute a poll issue despite all efforts as the villagers hardly have any idea about the disputeIJ The issues in the current PRI polls are development related. Health, education irrigation and communication being the main concern for the voters in the ground zero level, the election is poised for a triangular fight on development issues and any loss for BJD will be a gain for BJP. The Mahanadi issue per say has not been dealt seriously by the Government of Odisha. When Chhattisgarh started construction of barrages, what the ‘elder brother’ was doingIJ Was it not playing flute like Nero when Rome was burning
Cine stars just add dash of glamour
There is a beeline of ‘star’ campaigners in PRI polls.
These seasonal birds of Ollywood are found on political platforms only when need arises. In other words, they are used by political parties for immediate gain after which they become strangers to each other. They act only as crowd pullers during election campaigns. Part timers as they are, they have nothing do about the political ideology of the party for which they campaign. One can read into the quid pro quo arrangement between the two, if the glaring example of Uttam Mohanty joining BJD recently is taken as a case study. He and some of his Ollywood colleagues have their questionable link with Seashore scamster Prasant Dash. All of them are afraid as the Damocles sword hanging on their heads in the form of a Crime Branch investigation.
They need political protection which only the ruling BJD can provide and the ruling party in exchange need their service. BJD in Mayurbhanj has become weak as Sudam Marandi, a Minister in Naveen’s cabinet, who hails from Mayurbhanj, has lost his image and Uttam Mohanty along with Asit Pati is pressed into service under a crisis management plan as they belong to Mayurbhanj. Regardless of their political status in Mayurbhanj, their star image may woo the voters, the election managers believe.
But such tricks are successful only in south India where people are crazy about film stars. Moreover, the strategy may not work for whole of Odisha as Odia films stars are popular only in patches.
RSP safety issue neglected Working in a steel plant is generally considered risk free but Rourkela is an exception. During the past few days, there have been accidental mishaps which raise serious doubts on the safety preparedness of the plant. Though the private players who have grabbed multi million contracts are mostly responsible, what the principal employer is doing is a valid question raised by those who have seen kthe plant from close.
Contract workers are vulnerable to safety lapses, as their employers in connivance with the plant authorities do not give a hoot to safety aspects of the workers. Corruption by top officials and their contractual honeymooning with big firms are said to be the cause for ignoring the safety norms and the resultant accidents. Media reports on corruption by high officials in RSP are often taken as vindictive and baseless by the PR advisors of the CEO.
Besides safety, the plant is gradually becoming more vulnerable to security as branded private security agencies working on contract inside the plant and the township continue to post their security guards even after their DGR and PSA(R) licences are expired.
This is a sensitive issue because of Maoist insurgency in this part of Odisha. Neither the police nor the plant authorities are transparent while sharing information on this subject even with the RTI activists.
Production is improving correspondingly every month, if the Press releases are to be believed, but what about the safety of the employees, more specifically the contractual workersIJ Does it not decry the old adage – “production and safety are but two sides of one coin.”
Whether authorities like the Inspector of Factories and Boilers are aware about the violation of statutory norms is also a question of their integrity.