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 thevillagers 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 seasonalbirds 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
the 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.