While Narendra Modi keeps patting his own back with projects for ‘bullet trains’ and ‘smart cities’ not at all top priority necessities in India where poverty is still a major concern, the reticent and shy Chief minister Naveen Patnaik is putting in place some very highly commendable schemes in Odisha. There has always been loud murmur that he does not know basics of administration or good governance; he depends heavily on bureaucrats to guide him by keeping at bay politicians most of whom are pinheads. The ones that can make sense are given opportunity to convince the clever bureaucrats first that their ideas would yield desired results and then permitted to have a glance at Naveen just to be recognised as someone with a functioning head.
There are some loudmouth politicians who are made spokespersons to protect party interests, project party image in good light and defend party honchos during invasion. Obviously, Naveen is the smartest of all. He chooses his guides right, ensures he has not erred on judgement; and there is no threat perception ever from his team of bureaucratic advisers who are invariably fast thinkers and perfect deliverers expected to keep creating and presenting bouquets of options before Naveen who okays and ticks a few in approval. Akbar did that and Kautilya too taught the same thing to his bureaucracy in more ancient times. Naveen makes sure the bureaucracy does the ground work and the politicians do the donkey job. Modi is loudly talkative, so prone to danger of bitter criticism; Naveen does things away from public glare and never once talks ill of the bitterest detractor. Thus, he endears himself to all classes.
The latest commendable thing by Naveen is the ‘Green Passage’ scheme to ensure all 16,382 orphan students placed in 272 institutions across Odisha get higher education absolutely free of cost. They will not pay any tuition or laboratory fees for higher studies apart from free hostel and food. All Government, private, Government-aided colleges and universities have been directed to ensure that the orphan students are not charged a penny anywhere. The State Government is to bear all cost.
Green Passage is probably a pioneering programme in India very likely to be replicated all across the country soon. Incidentally, Odisha is the only State where HIV-positive and AIDS patients get a survival allowance to live with dignity.
Naveen is too shrewd to figure out what works and what fails in buying the hearts of the masses. Parrikar of Goa, Manik Sarkar of Tripura and Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal have been in news for their simple lifestyles and visible honesty, but Naveen beats them all in being superbly reticent about his enviable qualities that endear him to the masses.
Unfortunately in Odisha, the national parties BJP and Congress are struggling for survival, more so the former despite ruling at the Centre. Whenever the Modi-Shah-led BJP gives hints about Dharmendra Pradhan being fielded as the next Chief Ministerial guy in Odisha, people and politicians alike break into derisive laughter. The Congress is perpetually undecided who is to lead the outfit in the State as the battle within is getting bitterer and fiercer than ever before.
The Janaki Patnaik regime had done its best to make Odia the official language, but the bureaucrats had merrily ignored the rules without fear or shame. The judiciary has always made it clear that regional languages are not possible now. Naveen has been criticised in worst terms for not taking care to learn to read and speak Odia. But He has already said the Orissa Official languages Act, 1954 is being suitably amended to be in place by August 15 this year. He is committed to promote Odia by hook or by crook.
There would be a University of Odia language and literature with the objective of teaching and researching in Odia language at postgraduate, doctoral and postdoctoral levels. An Odia Virtual Academy is coming up to digitise Odia materials and put them on web portals. There is now the Vyasakabi Fakir Mohan Senapati Scholarship with a cash award of Rs20,000 for students scoring above 90 per cent in Odia at the +2 and +3 levels. Installing Odia Chairs in reputed universities like JNU and BHU is being pursued. The Odia Bhasa Pratisthan is working hard on a new edition of Odia Administrative Glossary.
But Naveen has expressed emotionally that “the heart and soul of Odisha is Mahaprabhu Jagannath, Odia language and literature.” This last part of the statement is unwelcome in secular India. A Chief Minister talking high of a specific faith is not appropriate. Hindu-heavy State of Odisha can never be projected as a Hindu region, which is legally wrong. lord Jagannath is a great symbol of humanitarian principles, but the fact that only Hindus can enter His abode has branded the cult as un-secular. So, Naveen better refrain from such single faith-specific utterances. He is doing extremely fine; he is indeed a subject of envy for politicians across India. He is the only serving Chief Minister with an ascending order of electoral achievements since 2000. So, his top advisors have to only wake up and take extreme care to keep him high in secular public esteem which is so simple given his incredible popularity among the Odisha masses.
Huge achievements, yes! But Naveen, the silent hero, seems to have erred on the choice of the Rajya Sabha candidates sure to win with the overwhelming support of his party unless things go wrong like it has happened with Bhaskar Rao, who has evaded Income Tax. In simpler terms, he can now be treated as an exploiter of poor citizens’ money. Even Bishnu Das is not perceived as a saint, defamed for having orchestrated bungling of his son’s scoring by abusing power in the past. He is likely to keep gaping in wonder or dozing off in the Upper House. Bhaskar Rao is sure to be chided by knowing colleagues who understand statesmanship.
The Rajya Sabha is essentially meant for the saints to harness crooks who enter the lok Sabha by guile and machination. It’s the holy home of high-integrity intellectuals who do not err for private gains. Persons with great heads who cannot ever enter lawmaking temples through expensive, wicked electoral routes are inducted into the Rajya Sabha by a tough scrutiny process. But alas! Evil sycophants wrongly taken for loyal followers make it to the ‘house of wisdom’, which must be hurting the souls of the framers of the Constitution.
The Rajya Sabha, known as the Council of States, is a permanent body not subject to dissolution. One-third of the members retire every second year, being replaced by newly-elected members. Each member is elected for a term of six years. Its members are indirectly elected by members of legislative bodies of the States. The Rajya Sabha with a maximum strength of 250 members has currently a sanctioned strength of 245 with 233 members elected from States and Union Territories and 12 are nominated by the President. Apart from the age of 30, the non-negotiable basic eligibility is spotless character, meaning one is not known as a criminal, has not been declared publicly insolvent, has no loan default, has not been defamed as an evader of public taxes, and above all, popularly known for exceptional intellectual standing.
Amazing intellectuals are treading the Odia soil in visible numbers. A simple peep into the pool would trace them easily. let sycophancy not be taken for loyalty.
(The writer is a core member of Transparency International, Odisha)