Flyover mishap: BJD on back foot
The Bhubaneswar Bomikhal flyover collapse rocked the Odisha Assembly for a few days in the recently concluded Monsoon Session with the Opposition demanding resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. On behalf of the Government, it was asserted that stringent action will be taken against all persons responsible for the tragic incident which left one person died and 15 others injured. The CM in his statement said three officials, including Executive Engineer Dukha Bandhu Behera, Deputy Executive Engineer Bansidhar Praharaj and Assistant Engineer Kishore Kumar Rout, were suspended for lapses prima facie. A high level committee has been ordered and it has been asked to submit its report within a week. The State BJP said the collapse of a span of the road over bridge near Bomikhal is due to rampant corruption in the Works department and favoritism shown in the selection of the contractor. BJP MlA from Padampur Pradeep Purohit said former Minister Arun Kumar Sahu and Works Secretary Nalinikanta Pradhan had huge investment in the construction firm Panda Infra Project. This firm was blacklisted in 2012-13, but it continued to get contracts because of a High Court order. But the State Government did not move the Supreme Court against the High Court order as the then law Minister Arun Sahu had business interest in the firm. Even, for celebrating the CM’s numero uno administrator award, the firm had given Rs 10 crore, the Opposition alleged. ‘’Naveen Patnaik’s zero tolerance against corruption is only a tall claim as the Works department which he heads is a house of corruption. The Chief Minister should take moral responsibility and resign,’’ said Purohit. leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said though the police had registered a case of culpable homicide in the case, it should have also added section 120(b) of IPC as one case of criminal conspiracy hatched by some people. But fact remains that the CM heads the Home department and would try to shield former Minister Sahu, as any corruption tag on his Government will prove disastrous at the moment.
State’s ignoble health status writ large
As on date, Odisha has five Government Medical Colleges, including the fresh two at Koraput and Mayurbhanj. The three old medical colleges at Cuttack, Brahmapur and Burla were established pretty long ago when BJD was not even born as a political outfit. This means the ruling BJD has established only two MCH during its 17-year rule and has plans for seven more. The KBK area got one medical college after 70 years of country’s independence. The second one at Bolangir is getting ready for intake of students from the next academic year. The third one at Bhawanipatna for which decision was taken after Sardar Raja Medical College was shut down for lack of infrastructure following a spot verification conducted by the MCI. Establishment of seven more medical colleges and launching of bike ambulance service to reach inaccessible areas of the State are the next steps being taken on a priority basis, said Health Minister Pratap Jena, during his two-day visit to Sundargarh district. While briefing, Jena however parried a question on how pregnant ladies will benefit from the bike ambulance service. He said the status of Rourkela Government Hospital is equivalent to a district headquarters hospital where the latest addition will be an ICU to take care of the sick born children. Required infrastructure for this hospital when listed out will be provided with appointment of 26 doctors within a month. The Minister also parried question on the status of the Hi-Tech Medical College and converting IGH into a Super Specialty hospital. His worries on the Government’s ignoble health sector performance were writ large on his face.
Cotton growers prone to distress sale of crop
The cotton growers of Subarnapur and Boudh are a worried lot because the cotton crop would be ready for harvest in next two months and the district administration has made no effort to rope in agencies for procurement or open mandis. A decision taken two years back by the then Collector to open mandis for sale of cotton I yet to be implemented. In the meeting of the district level monitoring committee for cotton held in October last year, it was decided that a cotton mandi would function under regulated market committee (RMC) at Birmaharajpur but work on the structure and its godown is far from complete. Only after its completion can the RMC invite the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) to open procurement centre at the mandi. Now in the absence of a procurement centre, the farmers will be forced to carry their produce for sale in Bolangir mandi which will be expensive for them and for those who cannot afford to transport their produce to Bolangir, it will be a case of distress sale as they will be sandwiched between the owner of the Sonepur spinning mill who is dictating terms and the middlemen who are on the prowl to buy cotton at low price. Similar is the condition for Boudh farmers who sell their cotton either at the Sonepur spinning mill or mandis of Bolangir or Phulbani. The farmers are now between the devil and the deep blue sea. What can the poor farmers do when the protectors become predators!
Kalahandi lad enters Guinness Book
A PG student of Hi-tech Medical College, Bhubaneswar, Satyapira Padhan has entered his name in the Guinness Book of World Records. He broke the record of Md Rashid, a Pakistani whose punch strike was 377 per minute in one hand whereas Padhan’s rapid fire punch had 393 counts. Prior to this, Padhan had enlisted his name in Assist World Record on June 20 and Bajra World Record in August in the same event. Padhan hails from Deypur, a village 8 km from Bhawanipatna, the headquarters town of Kalahandi. He did his graduation in Physiotherapy from Bhubaneswar Hi-Tech Medical College and continues post graduation studies in the same college with specialization in neurology. Wonder boy Padhan, as he is called now, did his schooling from Shree Aurobinda School and completed +2 course from Saraswati +2 Science College, Bhawanipatna prior to joining the Physiotherapy course. He learnt Karate under the guidance of Sudhir Kumar Chhatria and Taekwondo from Muna Khan of Bhawanipatna. Odisha’s famous mountaineer Jogabyasa Bhoi of Rupra in Narla block of Kalahandi was his inspiration in mountaineering.
He is trying to break few more records in other areas of adventure sports but would like to keep the events a close secret for tactical reasons.