In its quest for raising resources, the Government of Odisha has carved out avenues that are not necessarily in conformity with law. Take for example, the tinkering of the Orissa Irrigation Act and Rules thereunder. This Act came into existence in early 1960s. The Act was meant principally to obtain a return from the irrigation command area to at least to cover the maintenance cost of the project. Entry-17 of list-II of the Schedule-VII to the Constitution deals with “water”. It is qualified by the expression “that is to say”. In other words, what are specified after “that is to say” are to be treated as exhaustive and not illustrative. This legislative entry does not empower the State to impose any tax. However, a “fee” could be charged. For enabling a fee, there has to be some form of service and a quid pro quo.
In its anxiety, the Government has amended the Act and Rules in a very cumbersome manner. The Act has been amended to incorporate a category called “government water source”. This, by definition, covers all sources of water other than “irrigation source”. This definition is in conflict with what is exhaustively prescribed under Entry-17, list-II of Schedule-VII to the Constitution. The Government has acted as though it is exercising its power to collect a “fee” irrespective of the fact that there is no service provided in relation to “government water source”. The rates prescribed under the schedule to the Act are amenable to amendment at the whims and caprices of the Government. There is no rational basis in arriving at the so-called rates, and there is an excessive delegation of essential legislative functions to the executive. It has not been understood that the so-called “service” provided by the State in relation to the water resources is mostly “regulatory” in character. As per the law settled by the Supreme Court, regulatory fees have to more or less approximate the cost of “regulation”. This aspect is totally ignored in the amended Act and Rules.
The different rivers flowing across the State have not been interlinked. Irrigation has stagnated. The Odisha Economic Survey 2016-17 admits that around 62 per cent workers of the State continue to depend on the agriculture sector for their livelihood. It further admits that both the income and productivity of agricultural workers are lower compared to other sectors. The State has favourable agro-climatic conditions, abundant water bodies, a long coastline and has the availability of 11 per cent of total water resources of the country spreading over 11 river basins. But this does not ensure the benefit of the agriculture sector. There is overdependence on rain-fed farming. The irrigation facilities are inadequate. There is a low-level capital formation in the agriculture sector. The modernisation process of agriculture has been utterly slow. Small land holdings continue to burden the old tenant system. These constraints have prevented the agriculture sector from achieving a full exploitation of the available potential. We have neglected the river basins and permitted their utilisation in an irrational manner. The large quantum of water that flows through the Mahanadi during monsoon remains untapped. We ought to have harnessed this water and impounded it through projects such as Chhattisgarh has.
There is a lack of policy planning in so far as water resources are concerned. Industry has been permitted to tap water resources without any rational criteria. Additionally, through an executive fiat, a so-called “Water Conservation Fund” has been created. It has no sanction of law. Such unauthorised imposts have been resisted through litigations in higher courts. The State has practically conceded that such an impost is bereft of any authority of law.
Some believe that a Third World War will be over water. But it is at least true that we have permitted Chhattisgarh to rob the water without any reaction on our part in impounding the water resources ensuring its proper utilisation. It requires some study to ensure that industry appropriately contributes in the sphere of exploitation of water resources. Irrigation has been sluggish. There is hardly any new project of any significance that has come into existence.
lack of purposive policy planning of a vital resource like water is going to cost us dear. It is time the Government studied the law in its proper perspective and properly exploited the vital resource water.
Apart from irrigation, even safe drinking water supply has not received priority as it should have. We have a situation in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar where jaundice breaks out.
These factors lead to disillusionment of the youth power. It is time they demanded meaningful action in conformity with law for utilisation of the vital resource water.
The agro sector has not received adequate intensive attention. Many crops like rice, maize, pulses, groundnut, oilseeds, sugarcane, potato and ginger have shown a steady decline over the year 2011 to 2016. We have not looked upon agriculture as an industry. The input components of the agro sector have not received an adequate attention. The Economic Survey states that the yield rate and the cropping intensity are two cardinal indicators to assess the production trend of crops. The yield rate of food grains in Odisha is below the average yield rates in some other States and at the all-India level. The survey admits that there is a need for greater efforts through different policy interventions to give a fillip to the productivity in agriculture sector.
The youth power is in disarray as far as the agro-rural sector is concerned. We are more enamoured by urbanisation and “smart” city. There has to be a policy shift, and immediate remedial measures are to be implemented to boost the agro-rural sector, which has suffered in several ways. Rampant acquisition of fertile irrigated land for diversion for non-agricultural purposes has no rational basis. No wonder, the youth power in the agro-rural sector is disillusioned. It is time this youth power asserted its voice and called for a constructive and intensive attention to the agro-rural sector. This calls for a reorientation of the attitude of the ruling class and requires an overhauling of the structural arrangements in this regard. Further delay in this sphere would lead to more instances like Chhattisgarh over-utilising the water resources for both agricultural and industrial purposes. The so-called mass movement for protecting the Mahanadi water for our State has been propagandist and has yielded no result so far. It is time we organised ourselves appropriately to have proper utilisation of our agro-rural resources. This necessarily calls for a cohesive participation of all sections of the society with the youth power in the forefront. This is not a sectional or a factional problem. It affects the future of all of us, more so of the youths as things stand now. This is certainly a matter of great concern for all of us.
(The writer, a Senior Advocate, is a former All India Service officer, a former diplomat, a former editor, a former President of Orissa High Court Bar Association and a former Advocate General of Odisha. jayantdas@hotmail.com)