Rest in peace, Mandela no more

The Great Scientist Albert Einstein once famously eulogized Mahatma Gandhi with the immortal words, "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." These words apply in equal measure to the other great soul of the twentieth Century Nelson Mandela, who left this world on 5 December, 2013 for heavenly abode.

If Gandhi strode like a colossus in the world in the first 50 years of twentieth century, the next fifty undoubtedly belonged to Mandela. No leader was anywhere equal to the moral standing of Mandela in the contemporary world. He inspired people, particularly the youth around the world.

A human being cannot be God. But, if ever a human being came close to be deemed as holy as God it was Mandela. A lawyer by training, Mandela sacrificed his career in the legal profession and fought with fortitude against white minority rule in almost a hopeless situation. He remained in prison for 26 years, most of it in solitary confinement doing hard labour. But, he never gave up, never compromised. Even when he lost his family members, his own mother and son, he could not attend the funeral because he refused to undertake any bond. His fight was political, but also deeply moral like Gandhi. He became the symbol of righteousness, fortitude and courage for millions of people around the world. The Black South African may have been liberated by the struggle that he waged. But, even the rest of the world viewed him as an inspiration and embodiment of all that is good in humans.

Once he became President he could have used his power to prosecute his past tormentors. But, he forgave and inspired everyone else to forgive evil. He was compassion personified. He created the multi-racial, the inclusive rainbow nation that modern South Africa is today. Many countries fought against colonizers, but none of the other leaders became the icon and the inspiration that Mandela was in our times. He brought people of all colours and races together and established the truth and reconciliation commission for uniting people. He could have been divisive. But, he bore no grudge against anyone, not even people who ran the immoral apartheid regime, not those who put him behind bar for long 26 years. He spoke of peace and prosperity and worked for inclusiveness and multiculturalism rather than seeking revenge and justice.

Mandela very openly admitted the influence that Gandhi, Nehru and the Indian freedom movement had on him. In a way the DNA of Indian National Congress and the African National Congress are identical. He was as much Indian as he was South African or even more than that he belonged to the entire human civilization. South Africans cannot claim exclusive ownership over Mandela as much as India cannot claim exclusiveness over Gandhi. The history of the world rarely sees such great inspirations and moral icons.

I am deeply saddened by the death of Mandela and hope he will inspire us to bring people together, to make politics inclusive and of course be as humble and simple as he was. Congress party in India must always stick to the path of Gandhi, Nehru and Mandela and work for an inclusive society. There will be trials and tribulations, but ultimately it is our moral direction that will determine the destiny of our society. Anger, hatred, regional and communal politics will never succeed. That is the story of Mandela.

Rest in peace Madiba, the father of South Africa and the father of the world in our times.    

End Mafia rule in the Meramunduli-Talcher-Angul Industrial Cluster

I visited Talcher to meet Sri Brajakishore Pradhan, Hon’ble MLA Talcher and a close associate. Besides speaking to the MLA and the district officials I also discussed with many members of the public. The situation in the Talcher area is grave.

The Meramunduli-Talcher-Angul cluster has now become one of the top three most polluted places in India and among one of the most polluted in the world. The State pollution Control Board is aware of the problems, but cannot act because of the powerful people who protect industries in this cluster. The ambience air quality is very high on poisonous gases and SPM. Both surface and ground water have been polluted. The soil has become polluted and infertile. MCL has not been able to provide jobs to many displaced families and they continue to languish in waiting lists and moving from pillar-to-post with the hope of regular employment. As adhoc measure some have been provided low-paid contractual jobs. The temperature level in summer has gone up by a whopping 5-6⁰ Celsius and Talcher is now consistently becoming the hottest place in the state reaching 48-49⁰ Celsius in the summer. Winter is gone. From time-to-time people approach various authorities and fail to get their grievance redressed. The development of the area has excluded the local population, who are angry and frustrated. The MLA has been elected by the people and has the responsibility of representing these grievances and in the process he was arrested at the behest of Company officials

During the visit I was told that companies have officials of the state government in their pocket. The affairs of Bhushan steel is not an exception. Over the years many have lost their lives in Bhushan and the factory has become a death-trap. But, how was the company running without clearance from the Pollution Control Board? How was the Company violating standard procedures? Was it without the knowledge of the state Governments and the local officials?

The situation in respect of other companies like MCL is no different. Police Officials from the level of Constables to the highest levels in the state are benefitting from these companies. Many of them are in transportation business, some have got their children employed in these companies, and some have given their houses on rent to these companies. One senior police officer is running a shadow company that is engaged in transportation business. Another senior police officer has given his house in Bhubaneswar on rent to a Joint-Venture Company of MCL. Aren’t these clear cases of conflict of interest? How can senior officers indulge in such dubious dealings? The allegations are far too many. The least that the Government can do is to investigate all these allegations. In fat, no one in Talcher is surprised by the rough and ready method adopted by the police to arrest the MLA.

Talcher Police has no jurisdiction to arrest anyone outside their jurisdiction. They could have issued a notice under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code and if the MLA had not cooperated they should have applied for a non-bailable warrant. An arrest would have been justified if the Police had felt that the MLA was absconding or that they need to subject him to custodial interrogation. The MLA was attending the current session of the Assembly and was in full public and media view. The Police also had no intention of carrying out any custodial interrogation because he was sent in judicial custody almost immediately. The purpose was clearly to use state power to suppress a popular movement around extremely genuine public issues and intimidate the people. The State Government needs to realize that they cannot suppress a popular and democratic movement by using the Police. On their part the Police were more than happy to be used because from top-to-bottom they have their own vested interests. Basically what you see in Talcher is a mafia-type of activity and a clear nexus involving company officials, the police from the top-to-bottom, other district and state government officials and various political power centers in the state.

I have advised the MLA to help authorities normalize coal production and transport because such disruption can affect the power situation in the country. But, at the same time the state government should not neglect the local people as they have done in the past and expect normalcy. Genuine grievances of the people must be addressed expeditiously. The Chief Minister should personally visit Talcher, which he only does during elections.

 The MLA has demanded a C.B.I. investigation into all these dealings and I support this demand and hope that the investigation will extend to Bhusan and in fact the entire Talcher-Angul-Meramunduli cluster. All these Government officers and Politicians must be exposed and prosecuted. The mafia rule there must end.

I hope all these issues will be discussed thread-bare on the floor of the Assembly and the Chief Minister will explain the action that his Government proposes to initiate to break the nexus and stop Talcher from being ruled by the Mafia. 

Itishree’s last words: the tragedy of another brave heart

I visited village Manida under Delanga Block of Puri district to meet father of Itishree Pradhan, who was brutally killed in Raygada. I was deeply saddened and totally stunned. A visit to the family and there was no doubt in my mind that she belonged to a really poor family struggling to make both ends meet and I do not know how they can ever recover from this episode. Possibly they never will.

I am utterly appalled by the manner in which the young girl was killed despite her grievance of sexual harassment very much known to all levels of the government. She kept fighting for justice till the last moment. This is not a political issue. I am horrified as a father of a daughter. How have things come to this sorry state in Odisha, once upon a time known as a peaceful state?

Let me briefly recount the sequence of events. Itishree, who belongs to a poor family from Puri district, had become a Sikhya Karmee far away from home in the tribal district of Raygada. She was posted to Tikri, where she was subjected to sexual harassment by a School Inspector Dandsena. She reported the matter personally to the local police, block level officials, the district Collector, the district S.P. and when no action was taken she also met the Chairperson of the State Mahila Commission, the State Human Rights Commission and the State Director General of Police. She gave a written petition to the Chief Minister of Odisha. The State Human Rights Commission ordered the district authorities to enquire into inaction of the local police. An administrative enquiry found the allegation to be true. An F.I.R. was registered. She kept fighting bravely despite threats from powerful people. But, no action was taken despite all levels in the Government structure being aware of the sexual harassment she had gone through. Dandsena was not arrested. This inaction emboldened Dandsena and his associates and finally they killed her by pouring kerosene as they had threatened.

The victim had knocked at the doors of all and sundry, but the system failed to redress her grievance or intervene and the young girl was finally killed. The victim had personally met the District Collector, the S.P., the Mihaila Commission and the State DGP. She had given a written petition to the Chief Minister, who is also the Home Minister. Who else is she supposed to appraise of the harassment that she had gone though at the hands of powerful people? Even after an administrative enquiry found the allegations of Itishree to be true and even after registration of an F.I.R, with the Police, no action was taken and Itishree could not be protected from the dastardly attack.

From her death-bed Itishree has given her last testimony, which is actually a ‘dying declaration ‘under Section 32 of the Indian Evidence Act. In her statement she has blamed the Chief Minister and the local M.P. Jayram Pangi for the fatal attack on her. I salute her courage in remaining steadfast even as she faced death. If this does not make the Chief Minister bury his head in shame, what will?

The murder of Itishree is in many ways more serious than that of Babina, Madhabiliata or Nirbhaya cases since this was clearly in the knowledge of authorities at all levels of the government. It is also apparent that the State Government has learnt precious little from the Babina or Madhabilata episodes and the general sense of outrage all over the country and the system failed once again. When the Babina and Madhabilata episodes happened, as a responsible opposition party, we had spearheaded the protest that led to the resignation of a Cabinet Minister and the appointment of one more judicial commission. In the wake of the Nirbhaya case in Delhi I had through my blog made a number of constructive suggestions to improve the situation in the state with regards to safety of women. The State Government has hardly got any interest in the issue and therefore my suggestions were ignored. Nabeen Pattnaik and his Government continues to be callous because they feel that they can get away by ordering one more Crime Branch investigation and announcing a few more lakhs as compensation. I commend the decision of the family of this brave girl to reject Nabeen Pattnaik’s compensation; true to the spirit of Itishree. Nabeen Pattnaik should learn that people of Odisha may be poor, but they cannot be purchased by money.

So long as BJD continues to win elections, the security of women will not be any matter of great concern to the state Government. Congress paid a heavy price for attacks on women, particularly the Chabirani and Anjana Mishra cases. The time has come for the people to make the state Government realize that neglecting issues of protection of our daughters and daughter-in-laws will have a serious political cost in purely electoral terms, then and only then, can such callous attitude be remedied.

Where are the BJD spokespersons who with great fineness and gift of the gab take up the cause of women on national television. Is it that only attacks in Delhi, heinous as they may be, concern these English-speaking Delhi-based faces of BJD? Even in the case of Linchon Subudhi, BJD leaders were competing against each other to proclaim from the roof-top how they are committed to women’s issues. What about Itishree? Why have they not asked the local M.P. to resign even after the truth becomes so apparent? What has been the state Government’s response to growing numbers of Crimes against women in the state? As per statistics of the National crime Records Bureau not merely atrocities against women are on the rise, Odisha also has least percentage of cases ending in conviction. Appearance apart, Nabeen Pttnaik has provided an administration where the offenders have least likely to be punished and this is proved by statistics.

The Itishree murder is a case of monumental failure of the entire government structure. Many could have intervened decisively, but they watched as an innocent girl was brutally murdered. She had requested for protection and help which never came forth. There is now a need for an objective investigation into entire sequence of events. Police inaction of this scale, despite the matter getting personally reported to the state DGP by the victim and a written order of the State Human Rights Commission cannot be a matter of accident. There is a need to find the entire conspiracy because those who provided protection to the perpetrators of this crime or pressurized the police not to act are as guilty as the killers and must be booked for conspiracy. If the Government indeed cares for safety of women, particularly working women, a CBI investigation should be ordered rather than making a few lower level government functionaries scapegoats. Nabeen Pattnaik must take the accountability as the Home Minister and order a CBI investigation immediately. It is also the responsibility of all sections of society to pressurize the Government to order a CBI investigation or else we will be as guilty when the next girl is killed at the hands of another predator. It is time for Odias to realize that the political support that they have extended to BJD is largely based on an appearance and that truth is otherwise.     

***

Press Release Date: 23.10.2013

Niranjan requests a special relief and rehabilitation package for Cyclone hit Odisha

Bhubaneswar, October 21, 2013: Former Minister and senior Congress leader Shri Niranjan Patnaik has requested the Hon’ble Agriculture Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar for a special relief and rehabilitation package for Odisha in view of the extensive damage by cyclone Phailin in South Odisha, particulalry Ganjam and flash floods in North Odisha districts like Mayurbhanj and Balasore. Sri Patnaik has said that the amount available under the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) may not be adequate to restore the infrastructure devastated by the calamity and what the state needs is a substantially higher assistance.

In a letter to the Agriculture Minister, who heads the inter-Ministerial group that will take a final call on the amount of money to be provided to odisha, Shri Patnaik reminded that in 1999 when NDA was in power in the Centre, two cyclones hit Odisha, one in Gopalpur on Oct 18-19 and the other in Mahanadi Delta on Oct28-29. In the Gopalpur cyclone similar to the Phailin there were ‘zero causalities’ despite the India Meteorological Department (IMD) giving a two-hour alert to the authorities. Evacuation was successfully carried out as has been done now. The present BJD government has been confusing between the super cyclone of 1999 in Mahanadi delta where there were considerable loss of life and the Gopalpur cyclone where there was no casulaty. In fact, Mr Patnaik pointed out that Gopalpur is 25 feet above the sea level and historically there has been no casualties making land fall in Gopalpur in 1971, 1972, 1999 and 2013.

He said, the Central Government had given no support to the state government in 1999 Gopalpur cyclone. The then Defence Minister George Fernandez had visited Gopalpur and Sri Naveen Patnaik as a Central Minister had reached Gopalpur on Oct 19, a fact that he seems to have conveniently forgotten.  But, Ganjam got no financial assistance from the centre despite their ‘disaster tourism’. Even after the super cyclone, the Central government refused to declare the Odisha Super Cyclone as a ‘national calamity’ because it did not come under the category of ‘rare severity’ and the assistance we got was a pittance.

This time, the Central Government, the IMD, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have provided excellent support. “I request that the Central Government should maintain this spirit and not neglect the state in providing assistance under the National Calamity Contingency Fund. The state gets money from the Planning Commission for preparing capabilities for dealing with calamities and thanks to the UPA Government, the state has been receiving generous support of plan funds and the state’s capabilities have improved as also the capabilities of central agencies. But, the relief and rehabilitation assistance comes from mainly NCCF, which will not be adequate” Shri Patnaik said.

“Our past experience is that the BJD government have become expert in putting their party symbols to all centrally sponsored programs to claim credit while continuing to campaign on ‘central neglect’. Despite the hypocrisy of the BJD, I request the Central Government to take an objective view above partisan consideration and provide at least four times more money from what was provided by the NDA Government after the 1999 Super Cyclone,” Shri Patnaik averred.

In Malkangiri, losing the fight for hearts and minds

15-05-2013

The Hindu

In Malkangiri, losing the fight for hearts and minds

  

Panchayati raj representatives in the Naxal-af f ected district have resigned en masse to protest the apathy to their development needs, but the Odisha government remains unmoved.

Last month, 65 representatives of panchayati raj nstitutions in Malkangiri, Odisha, resigned en masse protesting against the apathy of the State government. All Adivasis, their principal demands have been the extension of an irrigation canal, road repair, and the supply of drinking water to villages. They had been making representations to the State Government and meeting officials but to no avail. Even after they resigned, Bhubaneswar has hardly taken note of the grave constitutional and governance crisis this has caused. What would the reaction have been had this happened in say Jammu and Kashmir?

 Tackling Naxals

Panchayat raj institutions are integral to our constitutional edifice. No minister or bureaucrat from Bhubaneswar has decided to visit the district to establish an interface with the elected adivasi leaders. What can be more insensitive?

 In early 2009, the Central Government decided on a significant initiative to deal with rising Maoist violence. Here, the deployment of Central forces was increased and States given support to add to their capability in coping with Maoist violence. The expectation was that a grid pattern of deployment of Central forces, supported by special forces with deep penetration capability, would facilitate developmental and governance initiatives. Affected districts were provided assistance under the Integrated Action Plan (IAP), which was one more method of gap-funding after the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRFG). Besides, the districts were given additional funds under various Centrally- sponsored schemes. The strategy has worked wherever State governments have been able to benefit from Central assistance. Where the State administration is disinterested, the Central effort has yielded limited benefits.

 Neither money nor security forces individually or together can win the hearts and minds of people, if money remains unspent and all that people see are large numbers of heavily armed personnel. This is precisely what happened to Malkangiri four years later. The State Government has been unable to create capacity or improve governance. Development schemes can hardly be implemented. Ministers and bureaucrats are unwilling to visit the district to personally take charge, review implementation or assuage the frustration of the Adivasis. There is a case for a rethink on our strategy to deal with what the Prime Minister has termed the biggest internal security threat to India.

Underutilised funds

During a recent visit to Malkangiri I met the Adivasi leaders. They were simple and straightforward in talking about the issues that affected them and expressed a great sense of helplessness at having been cheated by the government. They no longer trust it. Ironically, Malkangiri is among the top three Naxal-affected districts of the country with 60 per cent Adivasis and 81 per cent people below poverty line. The district gets generous funds under Central schemes as well as under BRGF and IAP yet fares poorly on all development indicators besides reporting extremely poor utilisation of Central funds. Malkangiri’s misery is being perpetuated by the insensitivity, inaction and neglect of a callous State government. Unfortunately, civil society has little time for the Adivasis. Innocent children are dying of diseases, youth are unemployed, women are vulnerable, farmers do not have access to irrigation and there is an atmosphere of bedlam and unprecedented institutional decay.

Poor infrastructure

Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the district has received Rs.35.39 crore till February this year, but only Rs.14.78 crore has been spent. Out of the 3,024 units sanctioned under the Indira Awaas Yojana housing scheme, about 30 houses have been built. Under the IAP, the district has received Rs.85 crore out of which Rs.30 crore remains unspent. Malkangiri has as many as 36 health centres apart from the district headquarters hospital. But they remain non-functional as at least 40 posts of doctors, including specialists, are vacant against the sanctioned strength of 87.

Roads are in bad shape and people have been repeatedly blocking them to voice their anger, but to no avail. Road projects worth Rs.460 crore, of the Public Works Department, and Rs.630 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) are yet to take off. Only 35 per cent of the funds under PMGSY have been used. Ironically, the Chief Minister holds the Works portfolio, which is supposed to maintain all major roads and look after the Water Resources department. Political executives from Bhubaneswar hardly ever visit the district. When they do, they never spend a night even at the fortified district headquarters. When Ministers, secretaries and bureaucrats are unwilling to visit the district and senior police officers move around in helicopters provided by the Central Government for security reasons, we cannot blame the district officials for their unwillingness to visit the interiors, particularly after the kidnapping of two Collectors from the Bastar region. The State Government has failed to build a bridge across the Gurupriya river that separates the cut-off areas from the mainland of Malkangiri district. The cut-off areas are essentially the eight gram panchayats of Kudumulugumma block separated from the mainland district by the Balimela reservoir constructed in 1977. The dam project separated some 33,400 people in 151 villages from the Odisha mainland though they are connected on the other side to Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh.

Rights violations

In 2001, the Collector and Superintendent of Police “ran away” from the district. On the Chief Minister’s request, the Central Government sent four battalions of Central forces as well as a helicopter. Money has also been provided for the modernisation of the police force. The State Government meets the entire expenditure on fighting Naxalites under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme of the Central Government. To this, the Central Government has now sanctioned two engineer battalions to attend to road work in areas where contractors are not taking up work. Instead of providing security cover, the security forces have become the only government agency present or visible. There are repeated allegations of human rights violations. This when the purpose of security cover was to implement development work and sort out governance issues.

The Centre has poured in funds and deployed huge numbers of security personnel. But, what does one do if the State administration fails to implement and tackle governance issues? What if Ministers and bureaucrats do not carry out routine reviews and inspections? Since the kidnapping of Collector Vineel Krishna, governance has more or less collapsed. No development has taken place, fuelling the current crisis that has forced elected Adivasi leaders to resign.

The Adivasis are simple people, who have for long tolerated the highhandedness of the administrators and the police. Now, they have been left to face armed Maoists.

To me, this is a grave constitutional crisis and all efforts must be made to restore grass-roots democracy here. 

"Law will take its course"

“Law will take its own course”, so says Naveen Patnaik, parrot like, once more and he expects the public to be gullible enough to be deceived again.

His brush with the rhetoric of law taking its own course began possibly with the most unfortunate Anjana Mishra Rape Case. Naveen Patnaik, then a Central Minister, promptly visited the victim’s home and committed to fight for justice. He demanded C.B.I. investigation to unravel the conspiracy and for law to take its course to punish the guilty. Let me mention some important dates. The incident took place on 9 January 1999. Naveen Patnaik made the public statement on 12 January 1999. The Congress Government, he accused of shielding the accused, arrested two of the three accused persons Pradeep Sahu and Dhirendra Mohanty on 26 January 1999. The investigation of the case was handed over to the C.B.I. on 26 February 1999. The NDA was in power at the centre and Naveen Patnaik was a part of the Central Government when C.B.I. investigated the crime and submitted charge sheet on 5 May 1999. Naveen Patnaik took full advantage of the unfortunate and horrific crime during the election campaign. Even the victim campaigned for the party publicly. But, Naveen Patnaik’s commitment for doing justice to the victim ended once he had benefited from the incident and come to power. After 13 years in office the third accused Biban Biswal has still not been arrested. He could have given this task to his Police Force and held them accountable if they failed to deliver. But, he is unconcerned. Public memory is short and he has squeezed as much as he could have by politicizing a heinous of crime.

Mr Naveen Patnaik’s rhetoric of ‘law taking its course’ now falls into a pattern. He is not interested in rule of law as much as he is interested in his public image. So, Ministers can be dropped as soon as allegations are leveled, then the investigative process stage-managed so that the same person can be rehabilitated with a Ministerial berth as soon as the original incident fades away from public memory. So, allegations have been made against 32 ministers and they have resigned. But, not in a single instance anyone has been arrested or prosecuted with any seriousness. Let us take some examples.

Raghunath Mohanty: resigned as Minister, but not arrested till date. The investigation was taken away from the local police because the lady S.P. of Balasore would not show any favour to Mr. Mohanty. Now the ex-Minister has done a vanishing act under the nose of the police, if we are gullible enough to believe, as Raghu Mohanty desperately tries to manage a bail failing which Naveen Patnaik can hope to make him surrender. Is there anyone who believes that the delay in arrest of Raghunath Mohanty would be possible, if Naveen Patnaik had asked the cops to effect arrest? So much for law taking its course.

The speed at which the Barsa Swony Choudhury case was handed over to the HRPC reminded me of an incident in my area in 2003. One Manas Ram was killed in the official residence of the Irrigation Executive Engineer at Salapada. The Executive Engineer was a witness and he had given a statement to the local police that the assailants of Manas Ram were accompanied by the son of then local MLA and now a Minister in the Naveen Patnaik Government Sri Badrinarayan Patra. As in the Barsha Swony case Mr. Naveen Patnaik quickly realised that the S.P. of the district, who was a young IPS Officer like the present S.P. Balasore, will not oblige the ruling party with any favour. So, within 24 hours the case was handed over to the Crime Branch. The Crime Branch did not arrest the accused, but ultimately on the direction of the court the MLA’s son surrendered and was sent to jail. But, the Crime Branch left gaping loopholes in the investigation and as a result all the accused were acquitted honourably though the court passed strictures against the Crime Branch investigation. This is precisely what Mr. Naveen Patnaik wanted and his wishes were fulfilled by the Crime Branch. No action has been taken against the Crime Branch officers. I feel the Barsa Swony case will meet the same fate. The HRPC will not arrest Raghu babu, allow him to surrender. But, then the investigation will be compromised and finally the prosecution will fail to give justice to the victim.

I have the highest regard for senior BJD leader Dr. Damodar Rout, but find his case quite curious. He was made to resign and then re-inducted into the cabinet while the case “Damodar Rout vrs State” remains under examination of the High Court. The Police under Naveen Patnaik found him guilty and submitted a charge sheet to stand trial. If C.B.I. had investigated then the BJD could have called the investigation partisan. In a criminal case ‘State’ is a party or in other words it is a case brought to court by the Government and strangely Dr. Rout is a part of the Government. Mr. Naveen Patnaik sees ‘no conflict of interest’ and no contradiction in Dr. Rout remaining as a Minister of the Government. So, it becomes Damodar Rout (State) vrs Damodar Rout (Defendant). If Mr. Patnaik has no trust in the investigation carried out by his Police, he should ask the Public Prosecutor to move an application to withdraw the case. But, if he stands by the prosecution he should not have inducted Dr. Rout into the council of Ministers. But, why this farce? How can he bring a case to court against a person and then make him a Minister.

For a while Bijayashree Routray was under hibernation, accused of corruption in the World Bank aided health Sector Project. He is now back as a Minister. Pramilla Mallick resigned over the Dal scam, but the investigation like in the case of Bijayshree Routray found nothing against her. She may be brought back as a Minister when it is politically convenient and the public has forgotten. I am not surprised that the State Vigilance found no evidence against Sri Badrinarayan Patra in the coal allotment case and now the Crime Branch has found nothing against the Higher Education Minister in the leakage of plus two question paper.  Another interesting case is the case of Minister Arun Sahu. His name was taken in the Chabi Bardhan suspicious death case. But, investigation found no evidence against Arun Sahu. Now one of the witnesses in Chabi Bardhan case by the name Basanta Dakua has also been killed in suspicious circumstances. This time also nothing will be found by the so called ‘law will take its own course regime’. Mr Arun Sahu belongs to Nayagarh district and is a key BJD leader of the district. As is well known the district has witnessed violent attacks against Congress leaders. Gurubari Kahanar, Block Chairman, Fatehpur has been killed. Prafulla Mohanty, ex-sarpanch, Baunsapada panchayat, Nayagarh Block has been killed. We hoped that Mr. Naveen Patnaik will truly follow raj dharma and order the police to book the perpetrators of the crime. We hoped he will let the law take its course. Nayagarh district is not isolated when it comes to BJD resorting to violence against its opponents.

If Naveen Patnaik is to be believed none of his Ministers minus Kamala Das have had anything to do with any allegation of corruption or wrongdoing. Investigations have all given them a clean chit and they have been re-inducted as soon as the public forgot the exact reason why they had to resign and so long as they remain loyal. In fact, the allegation would be used to make a Damocles’ sword hang till such time that the person has fully surrendered to his political might. Naveen Patnaik’s actions have a well calibrated pattern. He waits to see the extent of public outcry, tries to protect the accused, if possible without resignation, failing which they are asked to go for a while so that he can manage a clean chit from his investigators and public mood is no longer hostile. So, unsurprisingly no Minister has been prosecuted and merely asked to resign and the only Minister who has been charge sheeted, i.e., Dr. Damodar Rout has been given a long rope to somehow stall the criminal trial as long as possible as strangely he continues as a Minister of the Government (State), which is supposed to be prosecuting him at the same time. Why was Dr. Rout asked to resign and why was he inducted back? For Naveen Patnaik rule of law is a matter of convenience.

As politicians we have been all responsible for creating a rather fragile regime of ‘rule of law’ in the country and people are losing faith. In the Ramayana even God Rama asked his wife to pass the ‘fire test’. When allegations were made about my involvement in the mining scam I asked the State Government to order a C.B.I. investigation. In any case the State Government’s own machinery has been investigating the mining scam for the last three years and they have found nothing against me. Let Mr. Naveen Patnaik accept my challenge and order a CBI probe. But, the State Government wants to investigate allegations against itself and the result has been a foregone conclusion. The time has come for people to question the way Naveen Patnaik has been mocking at the rule of law with the rhetoric ‘law will take its own course’. With Naveen Patnaik as CM, law will appear to be taking its course for a while to hoodwink the public, albeit without arrests and while providing maximum opportunity to his colleagues to get a reprieve from the courts, but ultimately rule of law will be subverted. Unsurprisingly, as per the records of the National crime Records Bureau Naveen Patnaik’s Government has the lowest rate of conviction in the country among states and much below the national average. I was happy that Naveen Patnaik has admitted this statistics to be true in the floor of the Assembly, though he continues to say ‘law will take its own course, ad nauseum….. In the mean while Sri Raghunath Mohanty, BJD Vice President, can remain a fugitive from law.

We must not deviate from core Congress values

I have returned from Jaipur after attending the Chintan Shivir (18-20 Jan, 2013). The atmosphere in the Shivir was magical. But, nothing inspired me more than Rahulji’s speech accepting his appointment to the post of Vice President of the AICC; a speech high both on personal touch and emotion and intellectual maturity and depth- a rare combination of head and heart. I did not go to Jaipur expecting such a powerful and inspirational message. Let me elaborate.

The last few months have been quite distressing. I have been a Congress Worker for the last forty years and have held many posts in the Party and the Government. But, at no point I had seen such a pronounced disconnect between the political establishment and masses of people as in the preceding months. The youth and the middle class have been on the street first over corruption, then over the Delhi rape case. Politics has become a dirty word and politicians are perceived as corrupt, arrogant, self-serving and power-drunk. What the country needs today is a new and transformational leadership. There is a need for a complete paradigm shift in politics and in public life. I was increasingly feeling a sense of gloom and doom. But, that was till I heard Rahulji speak.

Let me paraphrase two key points from Rahulji’s speech. First he shared an important lesson that he has learnt from Soniaji that ‘power is poison’. Is not that the crux of the problem? Isn’t this poison responsible for corrupting politics and public life? If politics is about serving the people and about making sacrifices for the country no family has a more glorious tradition that the Gandhis. This is the way the Gandhis genuinely think and do their politics. Pandit Nehru had spent a decade in British prisons. Mrs Gandhi sacrificed her life protecting the unity and integrity of India and Rajivji was killed because he took on terrorism. Mrs Sonia Gandhi could have been Prime Minister, but chose not to. Even Rahulji has spent the last nine years handling organizational matters and in understanding development issues, while he could have easily decided to be in Government. The second key point in his speech was that the system in India cannot be tweaked and made to perform. We have to accept that public is angry, youth is frustrated, power is centralized and people are resenting the way the system treats them. The days of incremental changes are over. We need to change the system. Parivartan is not about changing a party in power, it is about changing fundamentals of governance and development.

In my speech I pointed out that the All India National Congress has functioned historically as an umbrella to accommodate various regional aspirations under its roof without giving up the national focus or the secular-democratic spirit. But, increasingly the regional parties are leveraging their clout not merely to pose a serious political challenge, but also to the overall growth and prosperity of the nation. The regional parties have no responsibility for keeping budget deficit under control or for making sure that oil distribution companies do not sink or that the Railways can sustain their present operations and find capital for growth. These examples are just illustrative. The fact is at a time when countries like China have rapidly brought about gigantic reforms at a national-scale, attracted FDI, built a strong manufacturing industry and invested hugely in infrastructure and human resource development, regional parties have been pursuing an agenda that preys on peoples’ fears. They blame the central Government for ‘neglect’ despite the five-time increase in central transfer of funds in the last decade. They use the delivery mechanism to take credit for welfare schemes launched/ conceived/funded by the Central Government. So, the two rupee rice scheme funded largely out of central grant is no big deal and is a matter of federal rights. But, the same is used to win votes. That is opportunism, pure and simple.

To deal with regional politics I have suggested a six-point plan without compromising on our commitment to nation building. Firstly, AICC should adopt a state specific strategy dealing with regional imbalance and aspirations of the people. Secondly, the State units need a strong and united leadership. Thirdly, we should develop a mechanism for an interface between state leaders and Central Government Ministries for putting across the demands of the state. Fourthly, AICC should develop state-specific media strategy so that the national media takes note of the opposition voice in the states. Fifthly, we need a policy to mentor youth leaders and give them prominence in the national media so that we create a new generation of leaders for the future of the party in the state. Finally, the selection of party candidates for contesting elections should be based on organizational work, support base and winning potential rather than ability of candidates to sway decisions through contacts and lobby. Many other ideas emerged during the deliberations.

My biggest lesson from the Jaipur Shivir is that Congress Workers must adhere to the core values of the Congress. These values have helped to preserve unity and integrity of the country in comparison to most post-colonial countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America that have witnessed civil war, military rule and gross political instability. Congress has played a very important role in sustaining a stable and democratic country. Because of these values, basically left-of-centre or socialistic, that we have constantly worked for the poor and the under-privileged. What are these core values? The first core value is, of course, the spirit of democratic socialism and inclusive growth. Congress has always stood against identity politics around caste, community, religion and region and our politics must always be inclusive. The second core value is the spirit of sacrifice for the greater good of society and the nation and dedicated service to the people. This is where we in Odisha have to remember old Congress leaders like Pandit Gopabandhu Das. In or out of power, we have to stay committed to core Congress values. It is more likely that we can rejuvenate the Party and the nation if we follow these ideals and hopefully we can persuade more people to support us. Back to basics. Rahulji’s message is rather powerful.

The changes that we must make in 2013 to secure our daughters

2012 has come to a depressing and gloomy end because of the horrific sexual assault on a 23 year old girl in a moving Bus in Delhi. As a father and as a citizen I feel deeply anguished. With nothing much to cheer, the nation has rightly decided to give the New Year celebrations a go-bye. For long our political discourse on development has paid lip service to gender rights issues. There has been an assumption that with economic development and modernization, gender-equality will be automatically achieved. Now the chicken has come home to roost with this vicious and violent sexual assault. Incidentally Odisha is one of the states in which crimes against women have shown a rising trend in the last decade. In 2012 we had the horrific incident in Pipili of rape and murder of a dalit woman. The Police had refused to register an F.I.R. and the doctors had declined to provide medical care going against the basic Hippocratic Oath till the Odisha High Court forced the Government to act, but only after a month of the attack. The victim succumbed to the assault finally. Imagine if the incident had taken place in Delhi and Police had refused to act, arrest the accused and doctors had refused to treat the victim. As per NCRB statistics the conviction rate in crimes in Odisha is the lowest among major states in the country. The last White Paper presented by the Government in the state Assembly show that out of the cases of rape registered in a year less than 1 % ends in conviction.

Policing is a state subject. Also, the setting up of courts, including special courts to expedite prosecution is entirely the responsibility of the state Governments. Unless Policing improves and there are more courts dispensing justice, both of which are responsibilities of the state Governments under the constitution, the scenario can hardly transform significantly.

Let me list out some changes that I would like to see in 2013. 

 Police

·      Implement the recommendations of the National Police Commission and the Supreme Court Directive without any further delay. Form a State Security Commission with the Chief Minister as the Chairman and the Leader of the Opposition as a Member and DGP as convener. Appoint Police Chiefs following instructions of the Supreme Court and for a minimum period of two years. Debar Police Chiefs from occupying post-retirement positions for three years after retirement. Substitute the Police Act, 1861 by a new Police Act. Odisha is one of the states refusing to implement the orders of the Supreme Court for the simple reason that the state Government wants to continue misusing the police and does not want to loosen its vice like grip. Naveen Patnaik wants a political police, a police that he can misuse and that is why he refuses to carry out basic police reform. Unless we stop gross politicization of the police, hardly will they be able to enforce the law without fear or favour.

·      Improve the Police to Population ratio to align closer to international standards. The state has seen a rise in the strength of armed police to deal with Naxal problem. But, what is needed is improving the strength of police personnel in Police Stations and on the street.

·      Improve Police training and resources to come up with a professional police force.

·      Subject police performance to social audit to improve accountability to society rather than to powerful people.

·      Provide CCTV coverage of public space and a suitable patrolling and first-response mechanism to enhance current level of policing and for reassuring the community generally and women specifically.

·      Form specialized units consisting of well-trained lady police officers to investigate all cases of violence against women efficiently and in a time bound manner. We had started all women police stations when in power. Let the BJD Government take our efforts forward.

·      Odisha Government has failed to come up with a DNA lab and its forensic laboratories are among the worst managed in the country. With better forensic evidence many more cases can end in conviction.

·      Ask the police to stop eve teasing and molestation and provide better security cover for women in the public space so that women are not scared to come out in the public.

·      Provide counseling and financial support to rape victims and bring them under a witness protection programme.

Legal Changes

·         The next Parliament Session should pass the Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 2012 with modifications as may be recommended by the Justice Verma Committee.

·      Rape in the ‘rarest of the rare’ category should be made punishable by death sentence.

·     Make changes in the procedural law to make it difficult for adjournment of proceedings in rape trials so that trial takes place on a day-to-day basis.

·       Odisha Government should set up special courts presided by women judges to make sure that trials end within a month of submission of charge sheet by the police.

·          Appoint well-trained non-political Public Prosecutors.

·          Start a special drive to dispose of all pending rape cases.

Women are playing a more active role in public today than any time in the past altering power structures and there has been some backlash. The challenge is to continue with the progressive changes while reinforcing the traditional Indian value of respecting the feminine. Our boys have to grow with the understanding that society expects men and women to be treated equally and with respect.

Let us judge ourselves as a society at the end of 2013 by the changes that we are able to bring about during the year to secure the future of our daughters. The State Congress is willing to support any initiative of the State Government in bringing about changes that I have demanded here. Our MLAs will vote with the Government for these changes. Equally, we will stand by any civil society initiative or demand for these changes in any manner requested and possible. We have to provide better quality policing and speedier justice, otherwise the level of public anger will justifiably keep growing and our society can disintegrate into chaos. The time to act is now.