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Make in Odisha nets INR 10.5 lakh crores

Make in Odisha (MIO) Conclave 2022 had received an overall investment proposal worth INR 10.5 lakh crores in a span of 3 days generating 10,37,701 employment potential across sectors from 741 companies. This is more than doubled investment received than MIO Conclave 2018. Highest investment received Minerals, Metals & Downstream sector. Arcelormittal Nippon Steel & JSW Steel top the investors list…reports Asian Lite News

Odisha Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik said the successful 2022 Make in Odisha (MIO) highlights the credentials of the state as the finest investment destination in India.  He was addressing the valedictory session on Day 3 of the Make in Odisha, the flagship investor summit by the government of Odisha, organised by Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Odisha Limited (IPICOL) along with investor promotion advisor PwC and industry partner FICCI at Janata Maidan, Bhubaneswar.

He announced that the Make in Odisha (MIO) Conclave 2022 had received an overall investment proposal worth INR 10.5 lakh crores in a span of 3 days generating 10,37,701 employment potential across sectors from 741 companies. 145 proposals received were from metals, ancillary & downstream sector, 102  from agriculture & food processing, 87  from logistics & infrastructure, 41 from tourism, 37 from Information Technology, 32 from power, renewable & green energy, 28 from paper, wood and forest based industries, 22 from  healthcare & pharmaceuticals, 26 from textile, apparels & technical textiles, 14 from agri-business, 10 from aerospace & defence, 10 from waste management, 7 from cement, 5 from start-ups, 2 each from education & glass, 6 from agri marketing, 1 from film & entertainment, 1 from electric vehicle and 12 from multiple other sectors along with 64 proposals from  general manufacturing sector.

“The Make in Odisha Conclave’22 has been a grand success,” said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. “I am happy to announce that the Conclave has generated investment intents of Rs. 10.5 Lakh Crores with an employment potential for 10,37,701 people. Let us all work hard to implement these investments on the ground and take Odisha to a new era of industry-led growth

The Conclave witnessed  registration from 18785 delegates, including global leaders, industry captains, exhibitors, and participants from 11 countries which were Japan, Germany, Norway, Nepal, Bangladesh, Australia, Indonesia, Israel, China,  Singapore and Thailand. Three day conclave had conducted 38 business sessions  with 250+ speakers with involvement of 20 departments which came together. Around 65 MoU’s were signed at the end of Day 3 of the MIO 2022.

During the MIO Conclave 2022, 10 inauguration and groundbreaking ceremonies were announced which included Ultratech Cement Ltd inauguration of cement plant at Cuttack, Astral Limited inauguration of Plastic pipes & fitting factory at Cuttack, Brittania Limited  extension of existing factory of biscuits, cakes and other bakery products at Khurda Food Park, Infunex Healthcare Private Limited production at Ramdaspur, Cuttack, Jay Bharat Spices Limited ready to eat & cold storage facility at Ramdaspur, Cuttack, Vendanta Aluminium Park at Jharsuguda, Jindal Stainless Steel Park, Wonderla Holidays Limited at Khurda, Danieli Corus Refractory Solutions Pvt Ltd at Khurda and Cotton World Textile apparel manufacturing unit in Khurda. These 10 projects have  a total investment value of INR 4,595 lakhs crores with investment potential of 15135 number of people.

“The Make in Odisha Conclave’22 has been a grand success,” said the chief minister. “I am happy to announce that the Conclave has generated investment intents of Rs. 10.5 Lakh Crores with an employment potential for 10,37,701 people. Let us all work hard to implement these investments on the ground and take Odisha to a new era of industry-led growth. I thank the entire FICCI team for their support throughout the conclave cycle. I would like to give special thanks to our country partners, Japan, Norway, and Germany. I hope that we further strengthen our relationships and create more opportunities for mutual trade, commerce, and people-to-people relationships.

The Make in Odisha Conclave’22 concludes today. I thank each one of you for your immense contribution. Let the juggernaut move on.”

Out of the total investment received at the end of MIO 2022 Conclave, metals, ancillary and downstream sector fetched INR 5.50 lakhs crore, power, renewable energy & green energy sector fetched INR 2.38 lakhs crore, logistics & infrastructure received INR 1.20 lakh crores, chemicals, petrochemicals & plastics received INR 76K crores, manufacturing sector received INR 21K crores, tourism received INR 8K crores, IT sector received INR 8K crores, agriculture & food processing received INR 7.2k crores, paper goods & forest based products received INR 5.3k crores, cement INR 5K crores, healthcare & pharmaceuticals INR 4K crores, textile & apparel INR 2.6k crores, aerospace & defence received INR 3k crores, EV vehicles received INR 500 crores, startups received INR 280 crores, glass marble & granite INR 200 crores, waste management INR 170 crores, agri marketing received INR 121 crores, agri business received INR 94 crores, education received around INR 70 crores, film and entertainment received around 15 crores followed by other sectors received some INR 61 crores respectively.

The investment summit in its 3rd leg this year witnessed various interesting sessions showcasing investment opportunities in the state and providing an opportunity for investors to interact with various stakeholders from various State Government Departments & Ministries and International markets.

The inaugural edition of the Make in Odisha Conclave was organised in 2016 to showcase the manufacturing prowess of the State and the investment potential in diverse sectors. It was an overwhelming success, with the announcement of investment intent to the tune of INR 2.03 lakh crore. This year the Conclave will be a celebration of 5 days, presenting Odisha, its potential and achievements, to the world with Japan, Germany and Norway as partner countries. It will also be a platform to exchange ideas and share knowledge. The Conclave will have sector specific seminars across food processing, agro-business and agro-marketing, chemicals petrochemicals and plastics, metal downstream and ancillaries, IT/ITeS, textiles and apparels, renewable energy and equipment, real estate & social infrastructure, healthcare and pharma, film and entertainment, tourism, biotechnology, logistics and warehousing, aerospace & defence apart from other engaging events.

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Odisha tribals fight against malnutrition

The district has over 53 per cent tribal population, which is among the top communities that report higher incidences of malnutrition in the state…writes Naba Kishor Pujari

Lima Majhi, 35, proudly surveys her 300 square feet kitchen garden at Sushabhata village in Kandhamal, Odisha. The green patch has 14 varieties of fruits and vegetables such as bitter gourd, beetroot, cucumber, pumpkin, drumstick, tomato, coriander, radish, pointed gourd, brinjal, and chilly.

“I have also planted guava, banana, and papaya trees. It not only gives us more nutrition but we also save money on vegetables,” said Majhi, who belongs to the Kondh tribe.

Many villagers like Majhi in Tumudibandha block were unaware of the nutritional value of fruits and green vegetables. They ate their staple of rice often without any green accompaniment. The hilly terrain of Kandhamal has a good number of drumstick trees, but the tribals did not know that its leaves and fruit can be cooked.

Majhi started planting vegetables and fruits in 2017 after volunteers of Jeebika Suraksha Mancha, a people’s collective working in Kandhamal, educated the villagers about the health benefits of eating green vegetables and fruits and the importance of building a kitchen garden. The nutritional kitchen garden initiative, with the additional support of Noida-based NGO, Atmashakti Trust, is helping rural communities in 267 villages under Kotagada and Tumudibandha blocks of Kandhamal district grow vegetables at home. Until now, they have assisted over 2,120 kitchen gardens take root, each growing around 13 to 17 varieties of vegetables.

Rashmita Patmajhi, 30, weighed only 45 kg two years ago. With a poor haemoglobin count, she used to feel tired all the time. “I built a kitchen garden and also started eating fruits and vegetables. I weigh 49 kgs now and now I know the importance of a nutritious diet.”

In Kandhamal, at least, this knowledge is critical.

The official statistics of the Odisha government in 2018 listed about 3,500 malnutrition deaths in Kandhamal in the past five years. The district has over 53 per cent tribal population, which is among the top communities that report higher incidences of malnutrition in the state.

“Undernutrition is more prevalent among tribals in comparison to other communities. In Odisha, where 37.26 per cent of its population is deprived of nutritious food, there is a stronger need for building kitchen gardens, which will go a long way to secure nutritional status for their families,” added Sameet Panda, convener of Odisha chapter of Right to Food Campaign.

Supplementing support

“Malnutrition is more than lack of food, and tribals are traditionally agrarian communities who grow vegetables and fruits. So, there is no visible hunger among these communities,” said Ruchi Kashyap, Executive Trustee at Atmashakti Trust. “But, they do not know what a varied diet is and what fruits and vegetables will meet their nutritional needs. So, we used a behavioural change communication approach to overcome this challenge. We helped communities know food diversity, the technique to grow a kitchen garden, and avail of government schemes such as Mo Upakari Bagicha, Millets Mission, and Iron Plus Initiative to make this effort sustainable and beneficial,” she said.

The state government too has recognised and supported these kitchen gardens over the years. In 2018, Odisha Livelihoods Mission (OLM), in partnership with Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (APPI), implemented a nutrition project called ‘Mo Upakari Bagicha’ to spread the knowledge of nutritional outcomes from dietary diversity by promoting kitchen gardens in rural households across the state.

In June 2020, OLM converged with MGNREGA to scale up nutritional kitchen gardens in all 314 blocks with an additional budgetary allocation of Rs 500 crore from the Odisha government. The aim was to reach 5 lakh households in the financial year 2020-21 with a focus on Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, Below Poverty Level (BPL) households, beneficiaries of rural housing, and small and marginal farmers.

Santosh Kumar Rath, District Project Manager of OLM in Kandhamal said in an effort to reduce undernutrition among children, women of reproductive age groups and adolescent girls, “in the last financial year, we have helped over 24,000 families build kitchen gardens in Kandhamal”.

And there has been some progress in this tribal hinterland which has recorded a significant improvement in malnutrition over recent years.

According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019-21, stunting in Kandhamal has decreased significantly from 38.4 per cent to 34.2 per cent in NFHS-4 (2015-2016); the percentage of underweight children has reduced from 43.1 per cent to 35.40 per cent, and there has been a marginal improvement in the figures on wasting disease but these figures are all still below the state average.

Delinking nutrition and poverty

Odisha is also rated among the top 10 states with a substantial share of the population living in poverty as per the report of NITI Aayog’s National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2021. One in every two people (44.75 per cent) in Kandhamal is below the poverty line.

“Nutritional kitchen gardens can play the role of inflation insulation for them as vegetable prices remain high all through the year,” said Panda.

Kitchen gardens are vital to cater to the villagers’ nutritional needs by providing access to food that is harvested, prepared, and consumed by family members.

Sindhimai Patmajhi, 55, from Badjal village under Jubaguda Gram Panchayat in Kotagarh block, grows papaya, drumstick, banana, lemon, radish, guava, carrot, pineapple, brinjal, beans, cucurbit, cabbage, cauliflower, and beet nutritional kitchen garden. She said her frequent visits to the hospital have reduced drastically in the past two years after eating vegetables every day.

“The members of Jeebika Suraksha Manch explained to us the nutritional value of each fruit and vegetable. They asked us to grow vegetables and fruits so that we readily get the required nutrition in our food,” she said.

ALSO READ-The guardian angels of Odisha’s Gundalba forests

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The guardian angels of Odisha’s Gundalba forests

Each week, a group takes up the task of patrolling the woods. They watch out for anyone trying to cut a tree. They work in two shifts: from 8 a.m. to noon and post-lunch to sunset…reports Tazeen Qureshy

Sitting in her house in the nondescript Gundalba village in Odisha’s Puri district, Charulata Biswal (55) speaks with poetic creativity. A noted environmental crusader, she has received numerous accolades, but the awards and recognitions have not made her shun the simplicity. Her testimonials reflect the culture and aesthetics of her work, more than scientific references.

“The cool breeze under the shade of the tree on a hot summer afternoon, the soft ruffling of leaves as wind brushes past, the melodious chirping of the birds nested in the tree… These are the little joys in life that only a tree can provide,” she articulates her emotions in Odia, in a near melodic cadence.

For over two decades now, Charulata and a group of 75 women from adjacent villages have been guarding a casuarina forest in Gundalba from timber mafia. Additionally, they protect the mangroves around the coastal belt that lies in close proximity to the village, which comes under Astaranga block.

Super Cyclone and its aftermath

The devastating Super Cyclone of October 1999, which swept away several villages along Odisha’s coast, was their wake-up call. Though inundated, Gundalba, which lies half a kilometre from Astaranga beach, was not cut off. “The mangroves saved us. They reduced the pace of the waves entering our village. If not for these trees, our village could have been washed away,” says Charulata.

Two years later, under the aegis of Pir Jahania Van Surakhya Samiti – it was named after the spiritual shrine situated near the village – women from each household of Gundalba joined the green drive. Their counterparts from other villages joined in gradually. The areas of conservation were demarcated for the convenience of the participant villages.

The thengapalli method

Women in Gundalba use the thengapalli method to protect the casuarina forest. In local parlance, thenga means a stick and palli means turn. So, armed with sticks a group of 10 to 12 women stay on guard throughout the day.

Each week, a group takes up the task of patrolling the woods. They watch out for anyone trying to cut a tree. They work in two shifts: from 8 a.m. to noon and post-lunch to sunset.

“Sometimes, we also venture out in the dark, if we get information about anyone sneaking into the forest. Those in our village follow the rules, but outsiders cause trouble at times,” says a woman associated with the group.

Since the women also have households to look after, their duty hours have to be managed efficiently.

“In a household where only one member is female, she completes all daily chores before venturing into the forest. If the family has more women, we place them in different groups so that at least one of them is present in the house to manage chores,” says Mehjabeen Nisa, a member of the group.

If any intruder is caught, he is usually let off with a warning. But if the situation gets out of hand, the local administration is informed.

Nisa recollects one such incident, which took place over two years ago. “A large group of people had come to the forest once to cut the trees down. When we tried to stop them, they behaved violently. We immediately informed the forest department and entrusted them with the matter,” she recalls.

Local residents are dependent on the forest for firewood, but they mostly rely on agriculture to make ends meet. The women on forest duty always allow people to collect broken twigs and dry leaves, but ensure that no trees are touched.

A safe spot for Olive Ridleys

Women led by Charulata also offer their services to protect the nesting places of Olive Ridley turtles along Astaranga beach. “We all belong to the same village and help each other. The women who protect the forest also clean the beach area regularly. This is an important aspect in the Olive Ridley conservation. Even during the breeding season, they voluntarily help out,” says Bichitrananda Biswal, an Olive Ridley conservationist.

Inside the forest, the women keep an eye on water bodies frequented by animals. If the ponds run dry, they alert the local administration.

Globally, there are numerous studies that highlight the successful implementation of community-led efforts to conserve local biodiversity. While it is difficult to ascertain accurate statistical data on what impact they make – since most such endeavours are voluntary in nature – studies and surveys by local NGOs report improvement in the overall health of the forests after such initiatives.

“Women and forests are dependent on each other. When there is a dip in forest cover, women are the first to know as they rely on forest resources a lot,” says Sanjukta Basa, a subject expert from Odisha who has followed thengapalli closely.

A report suggests that the forest cover in Astaranga region is up by 63 per cent – from 2.58 sq km in 1985 to 4.21 sq km in 2004. The women themselves have realised this positive change. “We now spot deer in the forests. Sometimes, they enter agricultural lands and damage crops, but we are still happy to provide them a habitat by protecting the forest,” says Charulata.

A helping hand

The concept of Joint Forest Management is gaining ground, but there are challenges on the way, primarily due to the lack of coordination between different stakeholders and the conflicts in management.

Being voluntary in nature, most community conservation efforts are driven by motivation, often due to cultural resemblances. The villagers of Gundalba also started off voluntarily, but were backed by the forest department since 2009. “We do not get any monetary support, but the forest department supports us in case of a rift with intruders. We are in a way recognised by them for the work we do,” says Nisa.

A section of the forest land is said to have been officially handed over to the villagers, but this claim could not be independently verified. However, more than the legal rights, the women believe in doing their duty. “Our work is to protect the forest and that is all what we know. Today, a lot of people are recognising our efforts . We might not understand the technicalities, but we understand the forest and will work to conserve them till our last breath,” Charulata concludes.

ALSO READ-Over 4.67L people affected by floods in Odisha

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Over 4.67L people affected by floods in Odisha

Over 60,000 people have been evacuated to safer places. Cooking food is being served to the evacuated people at different shelters, Jena said…reports Asian Lite News

Over 4.67 lakh people in 1,757 villages in 10 districts of Odisha have so far been affected by the flood triggered by rainfall, officials said here on Wednesday.

Despite a stoppage of rain for the past three days and a fall in the water flow at the Mundali barrage near Cuttack, flood situation remained grim in the Mahanadi basin system in Odisha.

Due to heavy rainfall and subsequent floods, over 2.5 lakh people in 425 villages have remained marooned while a total of 4.67 lakh people in 10 districts affected, said special relief commissioner (SRC) P.K. Jena.

Over 60,000 people have been evacuated to safer places. Cooking food is being served to the evacuated people at different shelters, Jena said.

Anti-snake venom doses have been supplied to community health centres and primary healthcare centres while 10 vehicles carrying RO plants have been deployed to the flood affected areas of Cuttack, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara districts.

The SRC said water level at Mundali barrage has reduced to 10.57 lakh cusecs at 6 p.m., and is likely to reduce further within the next few hours.

Flood water is being discharged from Hirakud reservoir through 40 gates. The inflow of flood water from Hirakud reservoir has reduced to 5.80 lakh cusecs while discharge of water remained at 6.69 lakh cusecs.

Due to heavy flow of flood water, two more breaches in river embankments were reported on Wednesday at Kathakote in Jagatsinghpur district. Evacuation has been started in the area. So far, six breaches have been reported in different river systems, he informed.

For the first time after 2011, he said, Odisha is experiencing such a high-level of water flow in the Mahanadi system at Mundali. He, however, said that within the next 24 hours, water flow at Mundali will reduce to 9 lakh cusecs.

The district administrations and engineers of the water resources department are working round-the-clock to tackle the situation and rescue operations are also underway by Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and fire service personnel, Jena said.

The peak flood is now passing through low lying areas of Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Puri districts. Water flow will start reducing from tomorrow morning, he said.

“This night is crucial when the peak flood will pass through and reach the sea. Following which, the water level will further recede,” he added.

Holding a review meeting, Odisha Revenue Minister Pramila Mallick asked the Keonjhar, Bhadrak, and Jajpur district collectors to remain on alert for another fresh low pressure likely to be formed over the north Bay of Bengal on August 19.

Meanwhile, all the government and private schools in Puri have been closed for two days — August 17 and 18 in view of the flood.

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Rural Odisha discovers power of Twitter  

Within three days of trying their luck on Twitter, ration supplies were delivered at their doorstep…reports Naba Kishor Pujari

“Why shouldn’t we try our luck with Twitter?” Tulsi Naik had thought, after having no access to ration supplies during the lockdown in 2020 despite innumerable appeals. Naik, who works with the Nagarik Vikash Sangathan, a people’s collective in Kalahandi district of Odisha, had been trained to use Twitter.

“During the lockdown, the supply of rations was stopped. Despite visiting the panchayat office several times, the issue wasn’t resolved,” says his wife Simanjali, a 21-year-old marginal farmer from a Dalit background. “The office is 20km away and I had to spend Rs 200 to Rs 300 to travel and lose a day’s work, when I already wasn’t earning much due to the lockdown.”

Within three days of trying their luck on Twitter, ration supplies were delivered at their doorstep.

Tulsi and Simanjali are not exceptions. The popularity of the social media site Twitter continues to grow beyond the urban and semi-urban elite classes, even more so since the pandemic struck. Marginalised communities, primarily in developing countries, continue to face challenges in expressing their grievances and concerns due to lack of accountable communication channels. However, since the outbreak of Covid-19, Twitter has emerged as the preferred digital platform in rural Odisha for grievance redressal.

Digital deliverance

The digital platform not only helps people resolve their problems but also save time, money, and energy, as all they need is access to smartphones. In fact, the Odisha government adopted the 5T model to ensure a tech-enabled governance reform system. The 5T guidelines — teamwork, technology, transparency, transformation and time limit — mandate the department concerned to take action on issues within 24 hours of a tweet.

According to Statista, India has the third-highest number of Twitter users, at 24.45 million. It indicates huge potential for individuals to use the platform as a grievance redressal forum and for organisations to adopt digital era advocacy.

In Odisha, the state government has 40 departments, all of which are on Twitter, and it has proven to be the most convenient means to contact government officials.

How Twitter saved the day

Mandila Digal, an 80-year-old from the remote village of Rajupadar in Kandhamal district’s Kotagada block, was overwhelmed when he finally received free ration at his doorstep after over a year of struggles and appeals. At the onset of the pandemic in India, Digal’s family was hit by an acute financial crisis, as most of his family members worked as daily wage labourers, and the lockdown put a stop to their income. At that time, the Odisha government had announced the distribution of 5kg rice and 1kg dal free of cost through the Public Distribution System for three months from April 2020. But his family could not benefit from this provisioning as they didn’t have an Aadhaar card, which was mandatory to avail this scheme.

After finding out about Digal’s woes, Santanu Patra, a local youth who’s been helping amplify the underprivileged voices through Twitter since 2020, visited Rajupadar. He collected all the required information, including Digal’s photos, posted them on his Twitter handle and also tagged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the then minister of food and consumer welfare Ranendra Pratap Swain and the district collector of Kandhamal. The very next day, the Gram Rojgar Sevak, Village Level Worker and the area’s Civil Supply Inspector rushed to Digal’s house to provide him with rations.

“As there were restrictions imposed to contain Covid-19, digital platforms were the only way to reach out to authorities,” Patra says. “I had noticed that government offices were responding on Twitter, so I used the medium to help people. So far, I’ve tweeted close to 500 issues, of which over 30 have been resolved.”

To migrant labourers’ rescue

Maheshwar Sunani (42) and his wife Debaki (37) of Muribahal village, under Nuapada district’s Komna block, had migrated to Hyderabad for work. But as cases of the coronavirus were on the rise across the country, they decided to return to their native place in June 2020. Without jobs and no savings, free rations could have been their only respite, as Maheshwar was a ration card holder, but the mismatch of the names of family members on the card had rendered it invalid.

Simanjali Naik, a 21-year-old marginal farmer had spent Rs200-300 on a day’s travel to avail ration during the lockdown. However, the Twitter request got the administration to deliver ration to their doorstep within three days.

Sunani approached his local sarpanch, gram panchayat executive officer and even the block development officer, but in vain. This was when Surendra Sunani, a local youth and member of Nuapada-based people’s collective Shramajeebee Bikash Mancha, stepped up to help. He posted the family’s plight on Twitter, tagging all relevant officials and line departments — the family received rations at their doorstep within three hours of his tweet!

“I had no idea about Twitter. But now, as I see its impact, I am overwhelmed,” says Maheshwar.

Recalling his initial journey as a Twitter warrior, Surendra says, “Opting for a digital mode of communication may demotivate someone new to it as there’s no surety of a response. Initially, it was difficult to convince people that tweeting was more effective than physically visiting government offices, but after a few issues were resolved, people had more faith in me.”

As recently as May 28, while visiting Bhatapani village in the district’s Sinapali block, Dolamani Bhoi, a 30-year-old Twitter warrior, came to know that all five tubewells in the village were defunct. Bhoi took to Twitter to contact the concerned officials and departments, soon after which the Twitter handle of the Odisha government’s Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Supply Department responded, assuring him that the tubewells had been repaired and were running smoothly.

Twitter warrior Dolamani Bhoi prompted administrative action on five difunctional tube wells.

When a tweet does not get attention

Given the volume of messages shared on the platform, there’s no guarantee of a response to all tweets, regardless of the authenticity or urgency of an issue. Where the outreach of individual tweets with a lower follower base may be limited, the need for collective digital activism comes in.

“I intend to get a response from the department each time I tweet, but the rate of response is 10 per cent to 20 per cent,” Bhoi says. “Still, it’s much better than people meeting officials in person or filing written complaints. When no action is taken, I contact 12baje12minute, a digital platform that gives voice to rural India. It collects and raises issues for speedy redressal and has considerable reach. This online community helps highlight our local issues. Concerned authorities are more likely to pay heed to an issue when they tweet on our behalf or retweet our post.”

Santanu follows the same pattern in his areas. “I seek support from local sangathans and digital groups, including 12baje12minute,” he says.

Is the future digital?

Given the number of authorities across different levels of the government with Twitter handles, they become accountable when tagged in a post of such kinds that demand attention. This, in turn, prompts swift action.

Block Development Officer of Udala Debajani Bhuyan, in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, is hopeful about the use of Twitter to resolve local problems.

“The state government is a pioneer in establishing a technology-enabled governance system. People are already benefiting due to the 5T initiative,” she says. “It’s heartening to see the youth using digital platforms to resolve their issues and also enable us to get through our problems with greater ease.”

Repeatedly tagging a government official or account may get irksome, but citizens have the right to demand answers, especially if their grievances have not been addressed, says Laxmidhar Singh, a tribal rights activist. This is the only way available at the moment to ensure greater transparency and accountability in governance, he adds.

Nityananda Thanapati, the social worker from Bhubaneswar who handles the 12baje12minute Twitter handle, says, “Earlier, a pen was considered mightier than the sword. But now, a tweet is mightier than the pen in many aspects.”

Thanapati has been spearheading a collective effort to create a Twitter warriors’ group in Odisha from village to state level.

“The governance mechanism in future has to be digital. That’s what made us create an e-sangathan, wherein we plan to educate and engage people to use digital platforms like Twitter to reach out to the administration,” he says. “We are happy that more people are relying on the platform as a solution to their problems.”

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Odisha secures US $50 bln investment in 2 years 

Shri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha, India at the Odisha Investors Meet held in Dubai (Zawya.com)

During the Investors Meet, a presentation on the “Odisha Industrial Ecosystem” was made highlighting the huge investment opportunities in Odisha…reports Asian Lite News

Riding on the last two years of a high level of investments approved by Government of Odisha, amounting to over US$50 billion since 2021, the state Government of Odisha in India is attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in sectors such as Metals and Metal downstream, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Textiles and Apparel including Technical Textiles, Food processing including Seafood processing, ESDM, Logistics and Clean Energy.

In this regard, the Odisha Investors Meet was held in Dubai today under the leadership of Shri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha, India, along with a delegation of senior officials from the Government of Odisha.

The Investors Meet was jointly organised with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Embassy of India in UAE. It was attended by more than 150 companies based out of the UAE and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region from sectors comprising of Minerals and Metals processing, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, Plastics, Heavy Industries, Clean Energy, Food Processing including Sea Food Processing, Electrical Equipment and Electronics Manufacturing, Logistics and Warehousing, Real Estate, and Hospitality. Leading industry associations from the region including Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC) also participated in the event.

During the Investors Meet, a presentation on the “Odisha Industrial Ecosystem” was made highlighting the huge investment opportunities in Odisha.

Highlighting the various advantages of Odisha state, the Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik addressed the gathering underlining Odisha’s Mineral advantage; Odisha’s human resource advantage; Odisha’s use of enabling technology in delivering efficient and effective investment facilitation and Odisha’s progressive policy and governance advantage.

“Odisha holds the lion’s share of India’s mineral reserves with 96 percent of the country’s chromite reserves, 92 percent nickel, 53 percent bauxite, 45 percent manganese, 35 percent iron-ore, and 23 percent coal reserves of India. This has made Odisha the largest producer of Steel, Stainless Steel, Ferro Alloys, Alumina, and Aluminium in India. Odisha also has 11 percent of India’s water resources. The state has a 480-km long coastline making it a natural choice for setting up ports, and for international trade,” he said.

The State is home to a large and highly skilled workforce. Highlighting Odisha’s human resource advantage, Shri Patnaik said, “We have made good investments in setting up technical and professional institutes at all skill levels – ITIs, Polytechnics, and engineering and management colleges. Eleven of India’s top 100 Industrial training institutes are in Odisha. With the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Institute of Technical Education Services (ITEES), Singapore, the Government of Odisha has recently established the World Skill Centre in Bhubaneswar to prepare the Odia workforce for modern and new age Industry.”

On Odisha’s use of enabling technology in delivering efficient and effective investment facilitation, he said, State’s Single Window portal for investors, GO SWIFT has transformed the B2G interface with its user-friendly features which provide time-bound clearances for over 50 G2B services. Odisha is also home to over 1200 start-ups, many of which are in the technology space. 

Underlining Odisha’s progressive policy and governance advantage, the Honourable Chief Minister said, focusing on 5Ts – Transparency, Technology, Teamwork, Time, and Transformation, the state Government has taken up several proactive measures for the development of industries and infrastructure. This has created an industry-led ecosystem of value addition, sustainable employment generation, and revenue augmentation in the State.

The Hon’ble Chief Minister also announced that the State would be conducting the third edition of its flagship Global Investors Meet – “Make In Odisha 2022” during Nov 30-Dec 04, 2022 at the state capital Bhubaneswar, India. The event would focus on sectors including Metals and Metal downstream, Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Textiles and Apparel including Technical Textiles, Food processing including Seafood processing, ESDM, Logistics and Clean Energy. The Chief Minister extended the invitation to businesses in the MENA region to attend the Make In Odisha 2022 Investor Meet and witness the opportunities the State offers.

The team Odisha also conducted one-on-one B2G meetings with major companies of the region such as LuLu Group, NBTC Group, Sharaf Group, Twenty Fourteen Holding and Tablez Group, ERAM Group, Sobha Group, Arab and India Spices LLC, Tabreed, etc. The State Government invited them to explore Odisha in their future expansions and apprised them of the huge Indian and sub-continent market. The government also assured all the companies of unmatched facilitation and support.

The team Odisha also included a high-level business delegation from the top companies who have invested in Odisha. The business delegation included Parth Jindal – Managing Director, JSW Cement, Saroj Poddar – Chairman, Paradeep Phosphates Limited, Satish Pai – Managing Director, HINDALCO, Dilip Oomen – CEO, AM/NS India, Rahul Sharma – CEO, Vedanta Ltd., Subhrakant Panda – Managing Director, IMFA, Sujoy Choudhury- Director, IOCL, Jagadish Naik – Chairman, and Managing Director, DN-Homes, Bhabatosh Sahoo, Managing Director, B-One Business House Pvt Ltd., Prashant Mallick – Managing Director, Tata Steel SEZ and Mr. Chanakya Chaudhary – Vice President, Tata Steel Ltd.

The Odisha Investors’ Meet was a platform for presenting the vast array of opportunities Odisha offers to businesses in the UAE and the MENA region. It has generated a huge interest among the business community as it is the first time that a state like Odisha which has received significant domestic investments has also reached out to UAE to attract FDI.

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India News

Koya tribe woman Jayanti Buruda now eyes politics

The 32-year old woman from the indigenous Koya community is contesting the Zilla Parishad elections in the state’s panchayat polls, which begin on February 16…writes Tazeen Qureshy

A journalist for over half a decade, Jayanti Buruda from Odisha’s Malkangiri district has covered all sorts of grassroots news around health, women and development. But, the tables have turned now, and Jayanti herself is set to be on the other side of the news story. The 32-year old woman from the indigenous Koya community is contesting the Zilla Parishad elections in the state’s panchayat polls, which begin on February 16.

“As a journalist, I raised issues which concerned the public. As a social worker, I often forced the administration to sort it out. Now, I want to enter the system and bring change. I want to ensure schemes are implemented and people get the required support from the officials,” Buruda said.

A rebel is vindicated

Born into a family of 11 siblings, Buruda has local politics in her blood; her father, now retired, had also served as the Zilla Parishad chairman in the past. He was her sole support as she grew up facing discrimination for being a woman and an Adivasi. He wanted his girls to study, even when the objections came from within his family. Her elder sister, she said, is the first graduate from her community.

Buruda wanted to pursue higher education at Central University in Koraput, the closest option at 150 km away from her village, Serpalli. The daily commute of nearly three hours was a costly affair and her elder brothers also objected to a young girl staying away from home for too long.

“I ran away. There was no other option at that time. My friends helped me a lot those days, even paid for my admission. Since I couldn’t afford a separate house, my friend’s family took me in. I completed journalism and worked as an intern for some time before landing a job at a local, Odia-language Kalinga TV channel,” Buruda said.

Buruda knew she made the right choice, taking up journalism. She said she enjoyed the respect and responsibility that came with her role in society. “During my college days, I always felt I was not being taken seriously as I was a woman and came from a less-represented background. Joining the media industry helped me get people’s attention and get them to respond too.”

A lone, busy face from Malkangiri district, where Maoist rebels remain active, her work attracted national attention and in 2017, she became the first recipient of the Network of Women in Media, India fellowship. Using the grant, she purchased a laptop and a camera.

Problems to solutions

Buruda’s shift into local governance was organic. It seemed like the logical next step and her father too was a huge source of encouragement. But both father and daughter were adamant about one thing she would contest independently.

“I was approached by political parties but I didn’t want to join them. I didn’t want to be a remote control who will have to follow the lead of people sitting back in the capital city. I am a local girl and am aware of the issues. I can handle things well on my own,” she said.

Buruda is pitted against seven contenders for the Malkangiri zone-3 which has six panchayats under it. Though she might not have the power and money that her contenders have, she said, her electoral advantage is that she has seen knows the people and their struggles.

Her election symbol is a simple image of a boy and a girl. “Everyone loves children. So, people would be able to connect with this symbol easily,” she said. The symbol is also meaningful to Buruda because she does a lot of work with young children, especially girls in health and education under the ‘Bada Didi’ (elder sister) initiative.

Issues that matter

In the run-up to the elections, she campaigns every day for up to 12 hours. She is out on the roads by 8 a.m. every morning, usually accompanied by her father and two volunteers. She visits different villages and conducts meetings till afternoon and informs them about her plans, mainly focused on health and education.

Later in the afternoon, she goes on a door-to-door campaign, meeting mostly women voters and listening to their grievances. By evening, she conducts another round of meetings, before calling it a day.

“My main focus is to uplift the women from my community. I want them to have a voice of their own. Women have been a part of the electoral process for a long time now, but it is a known fact that they are dominated by their husbands or controlled by the higher-ups in the party. But I want women to stand for themselves. I have done that for myself and now I want others to follow suit.”

Buruda is hopeful of a good show, but she won’t be deterred even if the results don’t favour her. “People from my community don’t want me to give up writing and I will never give up social work. So win or not, I don’t think a lot will change. But I am hopeful for the people who are showing their affection towards me like I am their daughter or sister.”

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Odisha braces for ‘apparel’ boom

Dibya Shankar Mishra appealed to all industry leaders across India to come and visit Odisha and assured necessary support from the State government….reports Asian Lite News

The Odisha government is in discussion over a special incentive package for mega investment in textile and apparel including technical textile sector, said State Industries Minister Dibya Shankar Mishra.

Addressing a seminar on making Odisha the textiles hub of the eastern India here on Monday, Mishra said, “Our government has prioritized this sector and is seeking mega-investments from major textiles and apparel players. We have more than 1.5 lakh acres of land, ready to be used by the industries coming down to Odisha. Not only in recent times, but Odisha also has a long history in textile and global trading.”

He has appealed to all industry leaders across India to come and visit Odisha and assured necessary support from the State government.

Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Upendra Prasad Singh elaborated the new schemes of the Central government and pointed out the areas where India based industries can focus on to have a growth in this sector.

Principal secretary, Industries department of Odisha, Hemant Sharma has highlighted the recent growth of the state primarily driven by the push towards industrial growth.

He has also elaborated the strong driving factors of Odisha making it the manufacturing hub of the East such as the strategic location of Odisha in the ASEAN region, the industrial infrastructure, highly skilled manpower and especially the proactive governance.

Leading national and global players like Shahi Exports, Aditya Birla Fashion, Page Industries and Wild Lotus participated in the seminar and shared their experience in the State.

Domain leaders including Bhilosa Industries, Vardhman textiles, Dixcy textiles, Indorama industries and Shubhalakshmi polyesters were also present at the Seminar.

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Odisha villages languish at the shores of dying Sukapaika river

“The encroachers took the opportunity of the dry river bed where they began their illegal constructions leading to its siltation and complete death in the next couple of decades,” Dr Rath lamented…reports Pragati Prava

Until the 70s, Bainshi Chandra Behera (65) had lived well off fishing in Bodhapur in Odisha’s Cuttack district. He would ply his trade on Sukapaika, a distributary of Mahanadi, India’s sixth-largest river. As Sukapaika began to die an unnatural death, Behera’s sole source of livelihood also dried up. He now works as a labourer for a Paradip-based fish trader.

Once at the centre of the prosperity and rich cultural heritage of around 10 lakh people living along its 27-km stretch, the river has turned into a curse for its riparian villages, thanks to the imprudent human actions, said Nrusingha Prasad Das (63), a resident of the same village.

The river passes through 425 villages under 26 panchayats in three blocks — Cuttack Sadar, Nischintakoili and Raghunathpur — said Dr PC Rath (67), a renowned cardiologist and a native of Bodhapur. He talks about the decline of the fortunes of the people living there as if it were the “death of a civilisation”.

“When a river dies, a civilization dies with it, and these 400 odd villages meet the same fate.”

“The encroachers took the opportunity of the dry river bed where they began their illegal constructions leading to its siltation and complete death in the next couple of decades,” Dr Rath lamented.

A concerned citizen and environmentalist, Rath is at the helm of the Sukapaika Bachao Abhiyan (SBA), the community initiative to revive the river and engages in advocacy with the government and bureaucracy.

Sukapaika originates and terminates within Cuttack district, running from Ayatapur village to Tarapur, said Smita Nayak, who has done extensive research on natural resources of the region, including water. In 1952, the government constructed, as a flood control measure, an embankment at Ayatapur. Five years later, around 290 km upstream of it, the Hirakud dam in Sambalpur district and then, around 25 km upstream of it a barrage at Naraj in Cuttack district came up, said Nayak, who is also the director of a non-profit “Orissa Rural Reconstruction Association (ORRA)” and working for livelihood enhancement of people affected by climate change and manmade disasters.

These structures together were meant to control floods but they considerably reduced the water flowing into Sukapaika. Priya Ranjan Sahu, a senior journalist and an environmental activist based in Odisha said, “According to studies, large dams tend to alter geography and hydrological regimes and they involve issues of control, power and political relations, social justice and equity. While Farakka, Baglihar, Almatti, Narmada are some examples, Hirakud dam is a fresh addition. While it has already altered the local environment and badly impacted the riparian communities, it is also instrumental in killing river Sukapaika around 290 km downstream.”

Fishing and farming livelihoods at risk

“The river is mostly dry. There is no water flowing through it now”, said Ananta Mallick (66), a farmer of riparian Narada Goudagaon village under Praharajpur panchayat in Cuttack Sadar block. What little water there is is the remnants of rainwater, found in shallow, stagnant patches.

Nrusingha Prasad Das (63) is a villager of Bodhapur that was home to 800-odd fishers who have lost their livelihood over the years and most of whom are working as migrant labourers. “The river was rich with a variety of fishes like Rohi and Bhakura,” said Das reminiscing about his childhood when he had once teamed up with his neighbours to catch a huge Vecti fish weighing around 40 kg.

It’s not just the fisherfolk, but thousands of farmers are now unable to sustain agricultural activities, caught between water scarcity, flooding and stagnation, said SBA secretary Roshan Rath, who also hails from Bodhapur.

Water levels in the region have depleted considerably with the drying river. Almost all the ponds, wells and tube wells, which used to draw water throughout the year, go dry by January, said Das, adding that lift irrigation points of more than 50 villages downstream are lying defunct. The tube-wells that used to draw water at 100 feet have to go deeper, to as far as 300 feet to get water.

With the freshwater flow disrupted, salinity in the land and in water bodies is increasing rapidly even though the sea (at Paradip) is around 60 km away, Das said. The water from wells and tube-wells here is unfit for consumption due to excessive iron and arsenic content, he added.

On the other hand, according to Ananta Mallick (66), a farmer of Narada Goudagaon village, in his village and neighbouring Samantarapur village under Kishannagar panchayat, every year more than 1,000 acres of farmland remain submerged for around one and half months during the rainy season as there is no drainage channel. The crops decompose in the stagnant water.

“Around four decades ago, my father used to harvest around 100 quintals of paddy and around three quintals of black gram and green gram every year when the river was flowing. Now, I hardly manage to harvest 10 quintals of paddy from the same land,” Mallick lamented.

Rivers like Sukapaika, which originate from a river and rejoin the same river, have a natural rhythm that drains out excessive water, said Sahu. Unfortunately, the river that could have evacuated the flood water naturally became the victim of the shortsightedness of the government officials, he lamented.

There is a proven risk in embankments. Sahu warned that if immediate measures are not taken to ensure free-flow of the river, nature might reclaim its drainage route and a Kosi flood-type situation may repeat here. In 2008, embankments on the river Kosi in Nepal gave way, believed to have been weakened by decades of silt deposition. The breach caused the river to change course and it shifted eastward by over 100 km. It flooded large swathes of Bihar and Nepal, displacing more than 3.5 million Indians.

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COVID-19 India News

Sighting vax team signals Odisha tribals to run into forests

Most members of the local community here are now opposed to the mass vaccination drive. They are apprehensive about the government’s medical intervention in an otherwise healthy community…reports Manish Kumar

Orda, a tribal village under Gobara panchayat in Cuttack district is untraceable on any digital device. Neither Google Maps nor any other search engine could tell you where exactly the village is. Last month, when a health department team reached Orda to inoculate the villagers, many fled into the bordering forests to avoid the Covid-19 vaccination doses.

Fear of the unknown, misinformation-fuelled anxiety, lack of trust, a cautious local community and a paucity of effective awareness campaigns mar vaccination efforts in the remote tribal villages of Odisha, as in many other parts of the country.

Most members of the local community here are now opposed to the mass vaccination drive. They are apprehensive about the government’s medical intervention in an otherwise healthy community.

“We have seen in the past that several healthy people when given injections became sick and some have even died. We do not have any faith in injections when most of us are quite healthy and without any disease,” said Kundia Hembram, a tribal from Orda.

“Recently we saw a man from our village that took some injection and died after that. We do not want to invite trouble by taking the injection,” Singha Sundi, another villager said during our visit there.

Spending some time with villagers reveals how unexposed they are to the world outside their hamlet. This, in turn, contributes to the overall lack of trust and increases fear among the locals. The village is still not connected with a proper road and is easily cut-off during monsoons, making travel difficult even on a two-wheeler. The nearest health centre, Gurudijhatia Primary Health Centre, is around 12 km away from the village.

There are several other tribal-dominated areas like Orda that face similar challenges. Here rumours about Covid-19 and its prevention spread faster than authentic information. Pangapada in Tumudibandh Block of Kandhamal district is another such remote tribal village. There is barely any mobile network coverage and the lack of good roads adds to the villagers’ woes.

Surath Patmajhi, who is a youth from the Dongria Kondh tribe in the village, has been vaccinated after being persuaded by some voluntary organisations. But the majority of the population of Pangapada remain elusive. He attributed this to several rumours doing the rounds in the village that are influencing villagers against vaccination. It is important to note that Dongria Kondh is among the thirteen Primarily Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).

“There are around 30 households in my village but till now not more than 10 persons have taken the vaccine. There are several myths in my community regarding the covid vaccines. They believe that these injections could make them sick; it could be used as a birth control measure and may make them infertile; while some also think that this could be a means to eradicate the tribal communities,” said Surath. He also added that there had been very few attempts by the government to create awareness about the vaccines among the local community.

A few voluntary organisations are trying to bridge the communication gap through the mobilisation of local communities. Many of the organisations claim that the remoteness of these villages, the lack of telecom connectivity and the dearth of proper, accessible roads pose insurmountable challenges that prevent conventional media and government outreach programmes from helping these villages.

According to a written statement provided by the Ministry of Communication before Lok Sabha in the last Budget Session (March 2021), Odisha hosts a maximum of 6,099 villages with no mobile connectivity which is around 24 per cent of the not connected villages of India.

“In tribal areas, the local community is more likely to believe their local leaders than the outsiders. There is a huge digital divide. Unlike urban areas or well-connected villages, these villagers are not exposed to the best practices. However, they continue to be under threat as many of them come to weekly haats or markets but many do not follow covid-appropriate behaviour,” said Ruchika Kashyap, Executive Trustee of Atmashakti Trust, who is working in tribal areas of Raygada and Malkangiri to create awareness among the local communities. She also said that the condition of women and differently-abled people are more worrisome in tribal communities as they do not have a voice in the decision-making process of the village.

Y Giri Rao, a tribal livelihood expert from Vasundhara, Bhubaneswar, said that the way the vaccination drive was initially undertaken, rendered the whole exercise futile.

“The tribal communities in the state are very simple and isolated and not exposed to the ideas and experiments on the covid front. They hardly see people with PPE kits, masks, gloves and other protective gear except in hospitals. The visits of health teams wearing such attire, without taking the local people in confidence first, led to opposition and reluctance among the community and affected the vaccination drive,” he said.

Vaccination in tribal areas across the state ran into several operational hiccups due to the shortage of vaccines and the indiscriminate and innumerable closure of drives in several districts. Tribal areas remained the worst-affected as the closures were compounded by vaccine hesitancy and opposition from the community. Moreover, these areas had the least teledensity, smartphone penetration and lack of literacy making it harder for communities to register the fast-dwindling slots online.

Experts also claimed that in several tribal villages, different members of the households often visit forests to collect forest produce or for farming, and unscheduled visits by health teams in such areas have failed to evoke a good response. Some also suggested creative means of communication like skits and folk arts to win the trust of the communities and spread the message.

Gautam Mohanty, Programme Officer at Odisha Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Programme (OTELP), which was the nodal agency responsible for vaccinating PVTGs, said that at least 20,346 members of the PVTGs above the age of 45 years have been vaccinated till now and a total of 2,342 persons in the 18-44 age group have also been vaccinated.

Mohanty said that although OTELP and the health department faced several challenges, it has worked on special plans to counter them.

“The situation was challenging initially, where we saw many people fleeing to forest areas in tribal villages to avoid vaccination but this has changed and we are proving successful now. We started taking the local leaders and volunteers from such areas into confidence and used them to create awareness in their own language and local beliefs.”

Mohanty also said that village-to-village awareness campaigns with microphones, incentives to visit quarantine centres, special covid-kits for the villagers, etc. helped them to garner their support and that the situation is likely to improve soon.

(The author is a Bhubaneswar-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)

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