Governor’s address focuses on uplift

The Statesman, Feb 10, 2009
Statesman News Service

BHUBANESWAR, Feb. 9: New schemes relating to agriculture and allied sectors, development of backward districts and malnourished children formed part of Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare’s address to the Assembly today.
The 32-pages long speech dealt at length with the achievements of the government in all sectors and even included performance of the innumerable central schemes being implemented in the state.
The government has developed an eight year perspective plan for KBK districts from the year 2009-10 to 2016-17 with a projected outlay of Rs 4,550 crore. The Perspective Plan is awaiting approval of the Planning Commission.
A rural livelihood project ~ titled Targetted Rural Initiatives for Poverty Termination and Infrastructure (Tripti) ~ will be implemented in 38 backward blocks of 10 districts with World Bank assistance from the current financial year, said the Governor.
He also announced a new scheme for coverage of malnourished children which would provide each child categorised as grade-III and grade-IV in terms of malnourishment will get an assistance of Rs 500 per month for nutritional and medical support.
Interestingly, this will be given from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
The address included an announcement for establishment of a new College of Agriculture at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district from the academic session of 2009-10, a horticulture training institute and mega-nursery in Kandhamal district and three modern terminal market complexes.
The string of schemes included setting up of five satellite Apparel Training and Design Centre in the state as well as a Elephant Management Plan with an outlay of Rs 53 crore to reduce the man-elephant conflict and protect elephants, the much delayed and re-christened beach tourism project called Shamuka Beach Project near Puri in PPP mode.
Mr Bhandare said a Corporate Governance Code for State PSU is being formulated with the help of the administrative staff college of India, Hyderabad and as part of the state public sector reforms programme a Orissa State Renewal Fund Society had been set up to continue extend support to the public sector reform programmes.
Claiming that the law and order situation in the state remained normal during the year except in Kandhamal district, the government claimed that it had taken prompt measures to restore normalcy in the district.
Twenty new police stations, upgradation of 46 outposts to police stations and five marine police stations were listed as measures taken on the law and order front. The strength of the Special Operation Group has been enhanced by creation of 878 additional posts and the government proposes to recruit 2,100 ST youth from Malkangiri, Rayagada, Koraput and Kandhamal districts as Special Police Officers.
The prison administration has also been improved with new jails, fortification of old ones and installation of cell phone jammers, it said.The plan allocation for the year 2009-10 was stated to be Rs 9,500 crore. Significantly, agriculture and irrigation formed the opening parts of the speech while the much touted mineral and metal sector towards the end of the speech.
The mineral sector earned a revenue of Rs 845 crore during April to November 2008 and it is targetted to reach 1,250 crore during 2008-09.
Thirteen power projects are in the pipeline as are the innumerable steel and aluminium sector proposals.

Opposition disrupts Bhandare’s address
BHUBANESWAR, Feb. 9: The entire Opposition disrupted the Governor’s address in the Assembly today and staged a noisy walkout alleging that the speech was scripted by a government which believed in use of black money to win elections. No sooner had the Governor Mr MC Bhandare started his speech, newly nominated Leader of Opposition Mr RC Ulaka stood up in protest. Much of what Mr Ulaka said was lost in the din as Opposition members were on their toes raising slogans. They tore the Governor’s speech and marched into the Well of the House. At one point of time the Governor was heard appealing to the members to hear him. Subsequently, the agitated Opposition staged a walkout boycotting the speech of the Governor. The members returned to take part in the obituary references. n SNS