Mahanadi row: Solution sans unified strategy
There was a hue and cry in the State Assembly over the Mahanadi issue last week as the Opposition was hell-bent on forcing an all-party strategy to resolve it in the overall interest of the State and the ruling BJD adopting a ‘go- it- alone’ policy. The popular view is for a united fight involving all political parties but the ruling party is against such a strategy for reasons only known to them. One can assume that BJD, for political reasons, wants to malign Congress and BJP who were parties to the decision of barrage construction on Mahanadi upstream. Chhattisgarh being a BJP-ruled State unseated the Congress first in 2009 and then again in 2014, is responsible for unilateral construction of barrages. The primary responsibility of giving the go-ahead signal lies on Congress as the work virtually started during the latter’s tenure. By blaming the main opposition parties and creating a panic situation for the common men, BJD wants to corner the political mileage first in the panchayat election and later in the general election in 2019. It is not interested for a solution, rather wants to linger the issue by moving the Supreme Court for a decision. The BJD wants to keep the issue alive so that the mudslinging goes on for quite some time before snowballing into a Cauvery-like situation between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Ex-MlAs continue to grab Govt quarters
Information regarding forceful occupation of 230 Government quarters by 225 former MlAs has now reached the public domain. Not only that, they have to pay more than Rs1 crore towards house rent. Revenue earning of the Government increased during 2013-14 by Rs4,874 crore and in 2014-15 it crossed Rs8,000 crores. Similarly, the State got its share on account of Central Tax to the tune of Rs16, 181.22 crore, besides Rs12,917.5 crore on miscellaneous heads. It may sound good but there was ample scope for arriving at a more attractive figure had there not been irregularities in several departments as 263 cases have been detected with irregular expenditure to the tune of Rs571.49 crore. A hefty sum is to be recovered from the defeated MlAs. The Government promised action against the MlAs who did not vacate their quarters despite defeat in election, but lacked seriousness. Here, the nonpayment of house rent is not important. What is more important is the morale with which they continue to occupy the Government allotted quarters which smacks of political muscle powerIJ What example they set for the future MlAs mostly for the younger generationIJ It is time they needed to be thrown out from their illegal occupations forcibly.
CAG report: A sad commentary on Govt
late submission of utilization certificate by the Civil Supply Corporation has cost the State exchequer Rs581 crore in five years (2010 to 2015), says the CAG report tabled in the State Assembly last Monday. Timely submission of the utilization certificate and the expenditure statement would have added to the State’s coffer by Rs581 crore as subsidy from the Centre. The Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSE) purchased paddy worth Rs25,509 crore during the 5 year period but failed to avail the Central subsidy. Another serious matter reported in the CAG report is about favour shown to millers in the name of standard specification analysis and sample test. The millers were asked to collect 2 to 4 kilograms from each bag of paddy for sample test and 20 mill owners amassed 2.51 lakh tones of paddy valued at Rs307.17 crore during the five year period. As such, the millers have appropriated 11,243 tonnes of paddy valued at Rs40.78 crore which means they have misappropriated money worth about Rs2 crore each during this period. The report is also critical about the mismanagement in the paddy collection centres and several irregularities there on. But who should be made answerable and against whom the authorities concerned should take action on such glaring irregularities is a million dollar question. Reports of more serious nature have earlier been submitted but responsibility for dereliction of duty has never been fixed. The report will also meet the same fate. If CAG pulls up the Government for its failure, then there must be some mechanism to fix up responsibility followed by ATR to be tabled on the portals of the Assembly. Alas! We have never heard of it.
Odisha’s vulnerable coastal security
There has been a flurry of disparaging reports on the performance of the BJD-ruled Odisha Government. The one which we had discussed earlier in this column was regarding the vulnerable Coast Guard patrolling that has now been authenticated by none other than the CAG. Now in its latest report submitted in the Assembly on Monday, the marine police stations have come in for sharp criticism by the CAG. It has been pointed out as to how only 31.07 per cent of the Central assistance provided to the State for infrastructure development has been spent for setting up sea coast police stations supposed to address the security concerns of around 482 km long sea beach starting from Gopalpur right up to Digha border covering strategic points like Paradip and Chandbali in Baleswar district. These police stations are now being managed by only 25 per cent sanctioned post. 15 motor boats kept in five police stations were utilized for 2800 hours out of 81,000 available hours in three years, was an instance of gross negligence. Out of 37 motor vehicles procured through central assistance, only 14 were available and the rest were misused in other areas. Similarly the Government proposed for 18 sea coast police stations in 2005 but failed to identify and hand over the land for construction even after 10 years. Paradip sea coast police station is stated as a glaring example in the report. If the security of the people in the coastal area is endangered by such lapses, it is the Government machinery which comes in for flak. Deficit in governance or the lack of it has become the order of the day and this may spell doom for the ruling BJD in 2019 when it is due to face the voters. The surgical strike in PoK and the discussion of the Home Minister with the CM of Odisha to remain alert in all strategic points of the State, including the sea coast areas, has increased the headache of the police administration of the State vis-à-vis the coast guard security concern.