Odisha 100

First Minute of the “Regain Odisha 2036 Think Tank Group” Meeting

Date: Wednesday 19 th February 2020

Venue: Hotel Ginger, Bhubaneswar

The meeting was convened around the following objectives –

  • Reflecting on the positive progress and shortfalls of Odisha in the last 100 years
  • Whether we have achieved our dream Odisha after 100 years? If not how to regain it
  • Looking forward to Odisha in 2036

Members Participation

This was the first informal meeting of the think tank group and all the members responded to the invitation positively. Among all Sudarshan Chhotoray, Mohammad N Amin, R.C. Tripathy,Arabindo Behera, Prof. Kumar B Das,  Snigdharani Panigrahi, Sudhiranjan Pradan, Rmanatha  Pradan, Hari Sankar Rout, Pratap Kumar Pradhan, Prsanta Kumar Jena, Chinmoyi Panda, Tafahima Akhtar, Dr. Nooruddin Khan, S.K. Belal, Sultan Saujalla Khan and Dr. Robert W Bhatra.

This is a forum created by few think tanks who are looking forward to a progressive and developed Odisha. We are fast approaching 2036 and would be celebrating “Glorious Odisha”. This is the appropriate time to think beyond the stereotype and traditional NGO concept and do something for the development of the Odisha.

Welcome and brief note around the objectives of discussion:

Mr. Sudarshan Chottray welcomed the participants and briefly introduced Odisha’s glorious past, its achievements along with shortfalls in the last 100 years. Odisha, then called Kalinga didn’t have the present geographical boundary. Odisha was the first state in India to have been created on the basis of language on 1st April 1936. The history of Odisha can be understood in different stages. This is the land of agriculture, trade and religious ritualism was ruled by many kings before it was occupied by Mughals in 16th century, Marathas in 18th century and the British East India Company in 1803 AD. British occupied Odisha with an evil eye on its rich salt bed and agriculture and ruled for more than 140 years. To protect the integrity of Odisha the warriors of the land fought several battles including different tribal resistance (popularly known as Meli) and Paika movement. The British government identified it as rebellion or revolt and ruthlessly suppressed the resistance killing many loyal soldiers of the land. Though India historically acknowledges 1857 as the first war of Independence, but the tribals and others in Odisha had already declared wars against the British much ahead of time. While Odisha was fighting for its integrity, it was struck with a great famine called Na Anka Durvikhya. The death toll was estimated to be about one million people due to the shortfall of rice. This is the time Odisha emerged as a resilient state as people learned the process to face natural calamities. Since then till India got independence, Odisha had silently witnessed both positive and negative developments under colonial rule. Despite several downfalls during the period it has contributed immensely in the field of education, health, printing, communication and skill.

The post colonial period in Odisha can be read/seen in different stages of political developments. After India got its constitution enacted, the first few years under the leadership of Harekrushna Mahatab and Nabkishore Choudhury Odisha experienced transparent and democratic governance. In the post liberalization period under the vibrant leadership of Biju Patnaik (Popularly known as Biju Babu) a new step was undertaken to progress Odisha into a new height. The liberalization and globalization had immense impact on Odisha and drove towards a new horizon of socio-economic and political development. After Biju babu Odisha entered into a period of political instability, communal violence, protests, and various natural calamities. Since 2000 Odisha could test political stability and sustainable development in the field of social, economic and political. Odisha has become international spots destination and educational hub. New milestones are achieved in the field of women empowerment. In last 70+ years in spite of various developments and growth Odisha has been reeling under various challenges which hinder the path of growth time and again. Economic instability, failure in tourism, unemployment, high IMR & MMR rate, tribal unrest, naxalism, regional imbalance, farmer’s suicide, politically influenced media, failed to create cyclone resistance infrastructures etc., are among many challenges in the road to development. 

Having learned the basic objectives of the forum and the meeting, the chairperson of the meeting strengthened the discussion by further narrowing down the questions. He recognized that, linguistic state Odisha has done well from governance to economy but still a long way to go to achieve our dream Odisha. The question to consider is – time is short and the tasks are huge – whether we can change the poverty stricken and backward sate image of Odisha. How we can regain our dream Odisha?

Discussion continued as the following points arising: True development is that when a state becomes elitist state. It is paramount that a state is ruled not by literate but by educated. Education is the foundation of development. We may be literate but not educated. A person is educated when he/she practices what is beneficial to the common. Odisha has the potentiality but under the selfish ambitions of the educated and political leaders the development is far from the reality. It is further emphasized that educated mass of the state supposed to guide from the front but they are failed to take the responsibility due to selfishness, thus, we are far behind. Whether we are utilizing our education in a productive way is still million dollar’s question.

Over the years state has implemented so many policies and amended a few but most of them are self defeating. Time has developed so many self-promoted models (e.g. American Model, Gujarat Model, Delhi Model etc.) which are misleading Odisha. NGOs emerged to replace GO to lead Odisha in the path of development but gradually both of them became harmonious. In the present context Odisha is reeling under lack of appropriate policies, unemployment, farmer suicide etc.

In highlighting the real picture of Odisha’s development it’s being argued that – “The Son-in-laws are prosperous but the sons & daughters are suffering. By this it was meant that the insensitive industrialists (son-in-laws) extracting as much resources as they can while getting all the praise from their father-in-law. Thus, Odisha is rich in resources but Odias are poor. Despite having rich resources (human resource) on the surface we are making effort to find resources under the earth.

Economic development is not the only way of development but wholesome development of a person or society. Industrialization is not the ultimate to development. If so then Punjab and Kerala where industrialization was given less priority, other sectors would have been reeling under underdevelopment. In the present Odisha model industrialization has hijacked the naturality somewhere. In Odisha where about 80% of its population depends upon agriculture, the government has gradually reduced the agriculture share in the state budget allocation. This is something needs a second thought.

Education without values is just like a boneless body. Educated youths of a state are valuable resources. They need to be continuously inspired to contribute to the development out of their valued education. Globalization has further increased the potentiality of the market but on other hand increased consumerism which leads to anti-social activities. This is due to lack of valued education.

Odisha has every potentiality to prosper in the tourism industry. But in the name of development Odisha ruined its natural habitations while extracting mines. Environment degradation is a threat to tourism. Adaptation of European model of ‘sky walker’ may lead to destroy birds. It is critical to see what is suitable to the local condition before jumping in to other’s success stories.

How the state elected representative will work with responsibility and servant-hood. The forum points out that – there is no free discussion and all the executioners are in a pressured state. It is the sole responsibility of the elected representatives to monitor, examine while providing services to the public. However, the state of Odisha has become a surveillance state not a service state. For example, the issue is not toilet (in schools) but who will do the maintenance (cleaning) is the question. We emphasize village/rural development but on the other hand we argue that without urbanization there is no development. We contradict our own plan. English education and insurance based health facility, we believe is the only solution or way to development, but we are far from the reality. Thus, we are not able to reach out to the common people though we pretend to be.

Emphasizing wrong priorities and not following cost effectiveness in governance will create hindrances in people getting the basic needs. Moreover, the linguistic harmony has to be maintained. Odisha was formed on the basis of language but today we could see the connection between coastal belt and other parts of the region has gradually loosen and the demand for separate state gaining its ground. It was also pointed out that, how can we think of development by excluding around 25% of the tribal population in the state.

Way ahead 2020 – 2036:

The first meeting of the forum with the participation from different sections of the society was fruitful. The discussions draw a clear picture of Odisha in last 100 years. We could clearly reflect upon the achievements and shortfalls. It also created the momentum to do something for to regain the dream Odisha by 2036.

For the holistic development of the state the following few points proposed to the forum:
  • The think tank group agreed that this was generally a good idea to have a forum like this and worth further consideration.
  • To include more like minded people to further strengthen the voice
  • It was agreed to have the meeting every second Saturday of the month. Also, it was agreed to locate a permanent place to carry out necessary activities of the forum.
  • To draft a vision document to present our views in the public domain
To provide a sustainable future for Odisha the following points needs further consideration:

Answering the questions – how to regain our dream Odisha in 2036. It is emphasized that, identifying the failures and act on it is the first step towards development. Secondly, governance by the elitist and development by the locals will do better.

It is as critical to implement consistence policy as steering it properly. Each and every individual has to take responsibility of doing their work. It is paramount to abolish master and slave relationship in the path of development.

To create a legal fraternity to give legal benefit to the needy in the society.

Odisha possess 465 km of long coast line, which is a blessing in disguise. It has the potentiality of promoting tourism along the coast line.

Odisha is one of the largest salt production states of India. Salt revenue was more than land revenue during British period. Odisha has huge potential to produce salt and this has not been explored for last 70+ years. Reviving salt production will not only create revenue for the state but also employment.  In the last few years many farmers have gave up the profession. Reviving slat production in a large scale not only promotes employment but also revenue of the state.

Agriculture cluster development in the rural areas will increase production. Along with cluster it is also important to plan out cropping pattern according the climatic condition and global warming. Preservation of the agriculture production. All these development will surely solve the farmer suicide to a far extent.

Bottom to top approach without ignoring the abilities, skill and expertise of the local communities is pivotal while working towards the development of the state.

Economic empowerment is majorly linked with the problems and issues of the state. For example, in western Odisha bonded labour is a major problem. To address this we focus on how to rehabilitate them and how their livelihood will improve and ignore the real problem. In reality if we had introduced land reform then the issues of bonded labour would have resolved to a great extent. The influential people who promote bonded labour, are so politically powerful, it is very difficult to raise voice against them. So, it is critical to reach the root of the problem and resolve it.

Government needs to create proper alternative for the people who are dependent on agriculture. If we think of enterprise for them, either they don’t have capital or expertise. As a result they move to construction sector as daily labouer which suits their expertise and are exploited.