CM in Modi Durbar
Keep on asking for separate status of your State and I keep you away from CBI. This is perhaps the quid pro quo understanding between Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. One can understand as to how and to what extent BJD’s support to BJP in Rajya Sabha mean for the Central Government. Patnaik went to Delhi thrice in last two years for exclusive meeting with Modi. After Patnaik’s second meeting with Modi on October 5, 2014, CBI stopped at Saroj Sahoo who operated from the CM’s residence. A proceed further would have opened the Pandora’s Box. In the first meeting on June 24, 2014, Patnaik expressed solidarity with the PM as he was accompanied by 24 MPs to impress him. Patnaik is worried about the fall of his Government in the event of CBI unraveling BJD’s Ponzi link. The situation favours BJD as the State BJP is divided on the issue. Patnaik is also afraid of one Rao who has been inducted into CBI as its Joint Director. Rao, known for his dare devil style of functioning, has many political secrets of Odisha in his bag. If he lets the cat out of the bag, heads will start rolling to the merriment of Manmohan Praharaj, Prakash Mishra and Sanjiv Marik, the ex-police heads who were treated badly by the CM.
Tragedy of the year
The bus accident at Goilo Ghat near Deogarh can be named as the ‘Tragedy of the year’, but it is also a joke of the year that the Transport Minister still survives like his Ministerial colleague Sanjay Dasburma. Dasburma’s scalp is rigorously sought after, but Ramesh Chandra Majhi sits pretty on his chair as if nothing has happened. 27 opera artists of Bharati Gana Natya died in the accident because the bus was permit less and the driver had no Dl. Is it not the negligence of the enforcement authoritiesIJ It was a theatre party and the artists eked out a living with paltry sums to manage their families. The owner of the theatre party Sitaram Pradhan himself is among the deceased. `2 lakh compensation to the artists who died in the accident is too low and therefore is an insult to all those who have embraced to such performing art as their profession. The Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC), all of us know, is neck-deep in corruption and if the RTOs and the MVIs, with handful of exceptions, continue their under the table transaction , it is better the department is off loaded to private parties and closed down for good. The Government is never serious to minimize corruption, let alone abolish it.
Row over facts and sentiment
The Kosal movement in western Odisha might be bereft of dedicated soldiers with ‘do or die’ spirit but when it comes to their language (Kosli) they stand united, especially in Balangir and in all other districts minus Sambalpur. The espirit de corps is demonstrated in its full vigour. Revered litterateurs and historian Sasanka Sekhar Panda, Padmashree Srinivas Udgata, satire writer Radhu Mishra, Hasyakabi Susil Mishra, Achyut Purohit, et al do become vocal in support of Kosli as the right nomenclature of the language for western Odisha. Historian Sasanka traced the existence of Kosli as a separate language along with Kalingi, Andhree and Drabidee in the slokas of Matanga and Sardula who were living age sages in the second century AD before Bharat Muni. There is a devoted group of writers contributing to all formats of Kosli literature. Scholars agree that Kosli is the language and Sambalpuri a dialect. Prayag Dutta Joshi of Raj Khariar who worked on the revival of the language went on to prove its specialties and claimed separate entity quoting from ancient scriptures like Tulsi Ramayana, Koslananda Kabya and stone inscriptions of the old Kosal era. He proved that Kosli is original and never suffered the ignominy of a sub-language. He put a rider when Sambalpur was almost going to hit the final nail on the nomenclature as Sambalpuri. The Sambalpur University shirked its historical responsibility and named the language as Sambalpuri-Kosli. Since then the controversy is on with Bolangir and Sambalpur at logger heads on this issue of sentimental pride, similar to that of the High Court Bench or selection of place for the WODC headquarters.
A bucket of water, please!
Crisis more often than not is man-made. There was a time, especially during the Congress regime under Janaki Ballabh Patnaik, Rourkela was left to fend for itself by drawing oxygen from its ever emitting carbon dioxide steel plant. The Odisha Government never did anything worthwhile for the city as if Rourkela was its step-mother son. Today, in hindsight these seem to be true but the city which was going to be almost dead, got a lease of life with some crumbs thrown out of Odisha’s development basket. Sixty years on, the Rourkela Steel Plant authorities should have been acquainted with the traits of the Odisha politicians. Its dependence on Koel river as source for drinking water was never assured by Jharkhand from its catchment area. As a crisis management strategy a round the clock control room has started functioning. The authorities have resorted to Tarkera pump house as an alternative for supply of water in the steel township. To meet the emergency needs, new CEO Aswini Kumar, who is in no way responsible for the situation, had to rush to the capital to facilitate a Government level talk with Jharkhand to ensure flow of water on Koel river. The proposed barrage on river Koel which faces a political imbroglio was also said to be in the agenda. But all these are after thoughts. The PR chief is on leave at a crucial period and the CEO is so bogged down with production related matter that he has no time for the Press, through a Press conference of the sort was the need of the hour. It would have served dual purpose as he would have met the Press first time after taking over charge as the new CEO and sought their cooperation to sort out the present crisis. A stitch in time would not have forced its employees to run after the tankers for a bucket of water.
(The writer , a former PR Manager of SAIl in Rourkela Steel Plant, a former Vice-Chairman of PRSI, Orissa Chapter, is a functional Editor of English weekly ‘Kosal Horizon, email: baidyanathmishra123@rediffmail.com,Cell : 94370 83025)