ODISHA FINAllY GETTING ON TO THE GRAVY TRAIN
This time Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik couldn’t play the old cracked gramophone record of Central neglect of Odisha in the Railway Budget. A rote critic of all previous Railway Budgets, he has grudgingly appreciated higher allocations in this year’s budget for the ongoing projects in the State. A 79-per cent higher provision for Odisha as against the country average of 52 per cent has taken the oxygen out of his perpetual grouse of Central discrimination. The State has got far more than it expected even in its wildest dreams and, that too, with minimal effort. That largesse would make it difficult for Patnaik to fulfil his part of the commitment: give land free and bear 50 per cent of the project cost. The bogey of Central injustice would prove to be phony if the pitifully meagre allocation Rs 10 crore in the State budget for the Khurda-Bolangir railway line is not proportionately augmented by him, Hereafter, all of Patnaik’s escape routes will be cut off. It remains to be seen what new excuses he would invent now for lack of real progress on railway infrastructure. The gifted writer of sob stories may soon be running out of ideas.
NABAKAlEBAR: PATNAIK SOlDIERS ON BUT HORIZON IS DARKENING
It has been a real merry-go-round of meetings last week to oversee the preparations for the Nabakalebar. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has set his heart on making the festival, the first during his 15 years of reign, a grand success. He has formed several committees headed by Chief Secretary-level officers to expedite preparedness on all fronts. There is also an onsite committee headed by Maheswar Mohanty, the BJD’s area commander in Puri, to supervise the progress at ground zero. These committees hold round robin of discussions to thrash out the obstacles impeding progress. TV pictures of these committees slogging away to meet the deadlines give the impression that the entire Government is on war footing to make the Nabakalebar a showpiece event. But infrastructure bottlenecks seem to overwhelm them. Railways and National Highways which are under the Central Government don’t seem to show as much enthusiasm as the Sate Government wants to complete the rail and road connections to Puri. Even things under the State Government’s control are progressing in a lackadaisical fashion. But at the end of every meeting, senior officers, adept at massaging reality, exude confidence that everything will be sorted out in right time. In-the-face state of things, however, doesn’t bear out their claims. Progress is more asserted than evidenced. Making political hay out of incomplete works, Opposition parties lambast the Government with opportunistic gusto. In particular, the Congress party’s mouthy chief in the State Prasad Harichandan and his Puri suzerain lulu Mohapatra, glowing in schadenfreude over Patnaik’s discomfiture, have howled like banshees that the Government is making a dreadful hash of the arrangements. But Patnaik soldiers on even though the horizon is darkening for him.
POlICE COMMISSIONER’S SKEWED PRIORITIES
While releasing the annual crime report for 2014, Police Commissioner RP Sharma told the media that his cops would continue to stringently enforce traffic rules in the twin cities because such enforcement has led to a decrease in road mishaps. Road mishaps have decreased from 284 in 2013 to 271 in 2014. In other words, the reduction in mishaps is one per month. But, like a kid in a candy store, Sharma is very happy with this success. He, of course, didn’t say how many cops were deployed to bring about this much-vaunted reduction. But the fact that he made the reduced number of 13 mishaps and collection of Rs 3 crore from the traffic violators the centrepiece of the Commissionerate police’s success last year speaks volumes about his priorities.
PATNAIK PlAYING BOTH ENDS AGaINST THE MIDDlE
Preventing Vishwa Hindu Parishad president Pravin Togadia from entering Kandhamal district when the situation there is perfectly normal illustrates the deftness with which Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik can play both ends against the middle. His quid pro quo arrangement with the BJP Government at the Centre – support for it in exchange for CBI going easy on him in the chit fund investigation and flow of ample Central funds – and the simultaneous exhibition of his secular credentials mean he wants to keep all his options open. He wishes to have a foot in both the opposing camps. Quite a clever guy! Hard to imagine anyone cleverer!
BAIJAYANT PANDA PlAYING FOOTSIE WITH MODI’S GOVERNMENT
BJD MP Baijayant Panda who found the NDA Government’s first railway budget in July last year ‘quite shocking and illogical’ is, however, full of praise for the current year’s budget. He has praised Prabhu’s, nay Modi’s, budget for not hiking passenger fares and laying emphasis on improved services, amenities and safety measures. Before this, Panda had snuggled up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by heaping fawning paean on him for being the darling of the Japanese investors.
(saratpattanayak@hotmail.com (M) 9437962121)