The State Government’s focus seems to be missing on some of the basic sectors of development, including agriculture and small-scale manufacturing though they can be more effective in employment generation and inclusive growth.
The ongoing development efforts with corporate friendly investment will further intensify unemployment and increase income inequality in the State.
It seems the Government is more interested in promoting the corporates’ profit and not in the development of people of the State.
The much published repeated industrialist meets like the Make In Odisha, with the myth of employment generation, have not catered to the need of all the neglected sectors.
Only minerals are the main attraction for the corporates as more than 50 per cent of the total investments is destined for minerals and metals.
It is a fact that the mineral-based industrialisation has been quite helpful to a handful of families of the State in carrying out their political and business legacy for generations since post independent period. The political and business nexus is more clearly visible in all Government economic policies having many ramifications.
On the other side, State charity is shown through different schemes with wide publicity to build a pro-poor image of the Government to continue rule of the governing classes using regional sentiments.
Experience shows mostly the mining and industrial belts of the State, with huge corporate investments, such as Kalinganagar, Koraput and Paradip etc. as examples, have failed to generate employment opportunities for the local people. Rather, it has encouraged outsiders and baring a few land owning educated families of the locality, the socioeconomic condition of the majority of local people has further worsened and become more challenging.
The scope for downstream and ancillary industry to boost the local economy is squeezed. The mines and industries have destroyed the source of living of the locals, displaced them and rendered the areas worse with deforestation, water, air and sound pollution.
The local environment has become unsuitable for healthy living. Natural resources such as water, forest, land and minerals are lifeline of the people without which living is just impossible. The State has witnessed a huge pilferage of mineral resources and illegal mining trade and misuse of ports.
There is no action over recommendations of the Saha Commission on illegal mining. The State suffers a huge loss of tax and non-tax revenue.
The mineral royalty and funds of DMF are not used for the local development to bring change in the life of the people with better healthcare, quality education and local environment development.
Mining and industrialisation have made people landless in their own locality and migration has increased in these areas.
Mostly the landless tribal and Dalits farmers, agricultural workers without education, skill and capital for business, have been pauperized and become slum dwellers. Industrialisation has not contributed to any social development, social change and affirmative action policy in the interest of the local poor and marginalised sections.
In the areas of free primary healthcare facilities and availability of universal quality education, drinking water, electricity, sanitation, Odisha still is one of the poorest ranked State without much change.
The quality of education has gone down; the teachers are on regular agitation. But the Government is unperturbed with no effective education policy.
There are hierarchal schools with different mediums of instruction, syllabi and teachers, where some of the teachers get salary less than minimum wage declared for unskilled workers.
Very selected few have the privilege to read in English medium schools. The ongoing education system in the State creates disparity and discriminates against the poor and marginalized. Is there any investment by industrialists to improve our education system?
The IMR and MMR are still a matter of concern and a majority of villages have no access to safe drinking water. The primary healthcare facilities are not available to many and distress condition of people in interior parts is acute.
Odisha continues to be a State of highest distress migrant workers in the country with no sign of improvement. Rather, the number has been increasing. Added to this is the miserable condition of migrant workers and their exploitation.
The minimum wage rate of the State is one of the lowest in the country. The health schemes of the State Government are just a hype without any budgetary allocation to improve health infrastructure, appointment of doctors and health staff in PHCs and CHCs.
The State Government has opened liquor shops in all Panchayats to earn excise revenue. This promotes not only ill health but is the prime cause of a rise in crimes.
Social environment and condition of women has become a matter of concern. Lack of healthcare and education among the marginalised sections has created middle age healthcare practices and age old prejudices like untouchability, honour killing, witch hunting and branding. There are no progressive social reform movements against such social evils and blind beliefs. People in lower social ladder continue to suffer as victims.
Agriculture of the State still continues to be backward because of no investment in irrigation and land development, agriculture credit, insurance, agro marketing and improvement in the basic infrastructure for agriculture.
Land reform still remains unfinished while the Government is building land bank with lakhs of acres of land reserved for the corporates.
Even the land demarcated for distribution among the landless poor is transferred to the corporates.
There is no protection and social security for agriculture labourers, sharecroppers, small and marginal farmers.
Hundreds of sharecroppers in different parts of the State have committed suicide during last two decades. The people of old age, widows, PWD and distressed women have a meagre pension under a Central scheme.
The demands of the farmers are never being addressed by the Government.
Odisha continues to depend on the other States for vegetables, dal, fruits, eggs, fish, meat, so on and so forth. But our farmers have no hope in agriculture as a result of which many rural families are leaving agriculture in search of other livelihood options.
City slums are flooded with rural migrant workers. Employment opportunities in rural areas under the schemes such as MGNGRA have become a farce.
The manufacturing sector of the State, especially MSME, is still in underdeveloped condition without any scope of improvement in the absence of adequate Government support. About hundreds of State owned industries such as consumer goods, textile, weaving, food processing, sugar, jute etc. are systematically closed and auctioned off to private companies and no methodical plan is being developed for new industries to come up by Odisha’s youth entrepreneurs.
(manasbbsr15@gmail.com)