Anna to attend farmers’ rally in city tomorrow

BHUBANESWAR: Anti-graft crusader Anna Hazaare would attend a Jai Kishan Mahasamabesh (farmers’ convention), organised by the farmer body Navnirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS) at the PMG Square here on Tuesday.

Besides Anna, Magsaysay award-winning water conservationist Dr Rajendra Singh Rane and noted Gandhian activist PV Rajgopal would also address thousands of farmers of the State in the convention, confirmed NKS coordinator Akshaya Kumar on Sunday.

Anna will reach here at 9.40 am and will address the farmers at 11 am at the rally venue, said Akshaya Kumar and added that Anna will attend a Press conference at Arya Palace hotel in the evening.   

In the convention, the NKS would call upon all the political parties and candidates contesting the general elections to include agriculture in their election manifestos as a first priority. “Whoever forms the Government, they have to solve farmers’ problems,” said Akshaya Kumar, adding, “If the Government does not pay heed to our demands, we the farmers of the State will dethrone it.”

The NKS has been demanding that the State Government ensure remunerative prices for agricultural produces instead of giving a mere minimum support price (MSP). It also demands that the Government amend the relief code in order to adequately compensate farmers for crop loss.

Rain may occur in State after 48 hours

BHUBANESWAR: The local Meteorological office on Monday predicted that there is possibility of rain or thundershower at one or two places in north Odisha districts on April 4 and 5 following a trough line formed along south and north Odisha.

The Met office said that weather will be mainly dry over the State and heat wave condition may prevail over some parts of coastal Odisha and north interior Odisha during next 48 hours.

On Monday, Bhawanipatna recorded the highest temperature in the State at 42.2 degree Celsius as most parts of Odisha came under intense heat wave during last five days.

Apart from Bhawanipatna, temperature rose to 40 degree and above in Bhubaneswar (40.5), Angul (41.7), Jharsuguda (40.9), Sambalpur (41), Sundargarh (40), Hirakud (40.8), Talcher (41), Bolangir (40.5), Titlagarh (42), Malkangiri (40.6) and Sonepur (41).

SIET disengaged employees’ stir enter 329 days

BHUBANESWAR: Disengaged employees of the State Institute of Educational Technology (SIET), which was closed by the State Government on April 29 last year, continued their indefinite stir for 329 days on Thursday demanding payment of their salaries.

Notably, 24 employees have been disengaged by the State Government following the notification of closure of the institute. Though the employees had been joined in the posts created by the Government, they were allegedly disengaged without any prior notice.   

The disengaged employees under the banner of Staff Co-ordination Committee of SIET later filed a writ petition in the Odisha High Court against School and Mass Education Department of the State protesting the order.

On May 15 last year, the court after hearing the case said that if the petitioners are continuing under the SIET in their services, they shall not be disengaged without leave of this court and their salary shall be paid to them regularly during pendency of this writ petition. It is also directed that if the State is proposing to close down the SIET, such order of closing down the said institution shall not be implemented without leave of this court.

In due course of time, the employees had appealed to the Odisha Human Rights Commission to help them in the issue. The commission on February 7 this year in its order said that for closing down the SIET proper procedure has not been followed and the orders of the Chief Minister of the State has also not been obtained by the concerned authorities.

“Though the constitutional bodies passed order in favour of us and asked the State to take adequate steps to pay our salary, the State machinery is yet to take any step to help us,” said Staff Co-ordination Committee leader Satyanarayan Sahu.

‘Women farmers need to be recognised by State’

BHUBANESWAR: “The State Government should recognise its women farmers during formulation of policies and programmes,” said the experts here on Thursday while attending an awareness campaign on women farmers in the State organised by the OXFAM India along with its partner organisations CWS, CYSD, FARR, ISD and RCDC.    

According to Kailash Chandra Dash of the campaign, the campaign was designed to address the issues of women in agriculture as women constitute major proportion of agricultural workforce. Studies show that the proportion of women inherit land varies from three to 25 per cent in different States. Many studies revealed that ownership and management of land makes women to take decisions on lots of economic activities which results enhanced income. The women have all the capacity to run her family with the agriculture income, but they didn’t get the opportunity, he added. 

The activists demanded the State to recognise women as farmers, prioritising them in different development programmes of the State and implementation of exclusive schemes for women in agriculture.

As a part of the campaign, a congregation and rally of around 300 farmers from different districts of the State was conducted in the city. Experts and activists like journalist Dillip Satpathy, former member of Board of Revenue Arabindo Behera, journalist Rajaram Satpathy, Prof Bedabati Mohanty, Prof Swarnlata Tripathy, social activist Namrata Chadha and OXFAM India regional manager Akshaya Kumar Biswal attended the programme.

Arun Singh named in-charge of Odisha BJP

BHUBANESWAR: BJP senior leader Arun Singh was appointed as in-charge of party affairs for Odisha on Tuesday. BJP State president KV Singh Deo, general secretary (organisation) Prasanna Mishra and spokesperson Sajjan Sharma have welcomed Singh.  

BJP candidates’ list for 29 Assembly seats

Constituency	Candidate
Champua	Girish Mohant
Jaleswar	Arun Bej
Bhograi	Paresh Nayak
Soro (SC)	Rakesh Mallik
Simulia	Sashi Bhusan Sahu
Bhandaripokhari	Badri Narayan Dhala
Bhadrak	Pradeep Nayak
Binjharpur (SC)	Anchal Das
Bari	Nilamani Samal
Jajpur	Jagannath Samal
Baramba	Bibhudutta Pattnaik
Barabati Cuttack	Pradeep Swain
Khandapada	Dr Shiba Prasad Bhanj
Salipur	Hemanta Sahoo
Mahanga	Samir Samal
Patkura	Manas Ranjan Mohanty
Kendrapada (SC)	Sunakar Behera
Ali	Braja Kishore Bhuyan
Rajanagar	Gyan Beura
Mahakalpada	Bijay Mohapatra
Paradip	Diptirekha Nayak
Tirtol (SC)	Prof Ramakanta Bhoi
Balikuda-Erasama	Chitta Ranjan Kans
Satyabadi	Dr Biswanath Rath
Pipili	Praphul Prasad Gajendra
Nayagarh	Pradeep Jena
Ekamra	Amiya Dash
Khordha	Jitu Mitra
Kakatpur (SC)	Tushar Kanti Behera

BJP names 29 Assembly, 2 LS candidates

--replaces two for Nilagiri, Brahmagiri

BHUBANESWAR: The Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced candidates for 29 Assembly and two Lok Sabha seats in the State.

The BJP announced Amiya Mallick for Jajpur Lok Sabha seat and Sarat Dash for Bhadrak Lok Sabha seat, while it fielded 29 candidates from the left-out Assembly constituencies in the State.

At the last moment, the election committee of the party has decided to field veteran leader Bijay Mohapatra from Mahakalpada Assembly constituency in Kendrapada district and newly joined former Khordha MLA Jitu Mitra from his own seat.

The BJP also announced the replacement of its candidate in the Nilagiri Assembly constituency Dr Pratap Chandra Rath with Sushma Biswal. Similarly, the party replaced Amrut Jena with Debendranath Tarai for Brahmagiri constituency.

Naveen begins campaign from his home turf

BRAHMAPUR: Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik kicked off his party’s election campaign from Sheragada, a block headquarters town, in Ganjam district on Wednesday. The campaign was begun with a roadshow at Sheragada under Patnaik’s home turf Hinjili Assembly constituency.

Patnaik is seeking re-election from Hinjili for the fourth time in the upcoming election to be held on April 10.

During his day-long campaign, Patnaik with his supporters covered almost all panchayat headquarters in two blocks Sheragada and Hinjili along with the Notified Area Council (NAC) in Hinjili.

It may be noted that Patnaik had won the seat by a margin of 26,417 votes over his rival Congress nominee in 2000, the winning margin was increased to 42,642 votes in 2004 and 61,273 votes in 2009.

“We are only concerned about his victory margin this time,” said Sheragada panchayat samiti chairperson Babula Choudhury, adding, “Chief Minister’s campaign will morally boost the workers and supporters of the constituency.”  

 “I am hopeful about the party’s success in the ensuing polls,” said the BJD chief while campaigning in his own constituency.

After the campaign in Hinjili, the BJD supremo conducted a road show in Brahmapur city and Gopalpur town in the evening.

He will hit the campaign trail in some other places in different segments including Chhatrapur, Purusottampur, Kavisuryanagar, Aska, Polsara and Sanakhemundi block on Thursday following a night at Gopalpur.

Notably, main opposition Congress has pitted Sibaram Patra against Patnaik. The other candidates who are contesting from the seat are Rabi Rath (Samata Kranti Dal), Debananda Mohapatra (BJP) and Rama Krushn Das (Independent).

OJM names candidates for 1 LS, 40 Assembly seats

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Jan Morcha (OJM) on Tuesday announced names of its candidates for 40 Assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat in the State. Elections for all these seats will be held in the second phase of polling on April 17.

Party president Pyarimohan Mohapatra named Bishunupriya Nayak as the candidate from Keonjhar parliamentary constituency.

The names of candidates for 40 Assembly seats are Akshaya Kumar Karan (Aul), Kailash Mohanty (Rajnagar), Subhashree Biswal (Brahmagiri), Sridhar Tripathy (Simulia), Sabitri Nayak (Karanjia), Dilip Nayak (Jashipur), Sripati Dandpat (Saraskana), Debendra Nath Singh (Baripada), Balaram Marandi (Bangiriposi), Prabhakar Nayak (Dharmasala), Banalata Behera (Badasahi), Rabinarayan Hota (Ghasipura), Hiranya Kumar Nayak (Telkoi), Maharga Singh (Pallahada), Yasomanta Marandi (Patana), Saraswati Nayak (Keonjhar), Mangal Singh Tudu (Rairangpur), Sushant Kumar Sahu (Parjang), Jasobanta Bhoi (Tirtol), Jayadarshi Nayak (Bhubaneswar Central), Rabi Maharana (Ekamra), Bidhan Chandra Jena (Remuna), Anil Kumar Mohapatra (Nilagiri), Madhab Mallick (Kakatpur), Rinabala Das (Niali), Ranjan Panda (Chandabali), Aparna Swain (Basudevpur), Mohammed Ali Sheikh Jinna (Bhadrak), Shantanu Das (Jaleswar), Pradeep Sahu (Angul), Amar Nayak (Mahanga), Sarada Prasanna Swain (Nimapada), Dr Rabi Ranjan Sahu (Barabati Cuttack), Ganesh Prasad Das (Dhamnagar), Bhabagrahi Mallick (Bhandaraipokhari), Judhisthir Mohanta (Morada), Nandkishore Samal (Bari), Rashmi Ranjan Samal (Paradip), Amiya Ranjan Sahu (Patkura) and Shankarshan Mohanty (Athagarh).

OJM youth wing president joins Congress

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Jan Morcha (OJM) youth wing president Siddheswari Prasad Mishra (Babi) on Tuesday joined the Congress after resigning from his post and primary membership of his parent party. Mishra was welcomed by Pradesh Congress Committee president Jaydev Jena in the presence of senior party leaders.

21 poll observers reach State

BHUBANESWAR: In order to keep strict vigil on election expenditures of the candidates along with process of the polls, 21 poll observers and expenditure observers appointed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) reached here on Tuesday. 

After arriving here, the expenditure observers, deputy observers and assistant observers left for their constituencies assigned by the ECI. They would keep eye on poll campaigns, processions and meetings of the political parties to ensure that there is no violation of model code of conducts before the election is over.

According to the ECI sources, Expenditure Observers from the Central Government Services have been appointed to keep a close watch on election expenditure of the candidates and to ensure that no inducement is offered to electors during the entire election process for exercise of their franchise.

As many as 51 observers were appointed for the first phase of the polling on April 10, while 55 observers were engaged for the second phase polling on April 17. The observers would leave the State on April 19, official sources said.

The sources said that the names, addresses within the district, constituency and telephone numbers of all General as well as Expenditure Observers will be publicised in local newspapers so that the general public can quickly approach them for any grievance redressal.

BJD’s third list of candidates for Assembly seats

BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Monday announced names of candidates for 15 Assembly constituencies. Raghu Mohanty was denied ticket. 

Constituency	Candidate
Bhubaneswar North	Priyadarshi Mishra
Jatni	Bhagirathi Badajena
Khordha	Rajendra Sahu
Kendrapada	Kishore Tarai
Rajnagar	Alekh Jena
Dhamnagar (SC)	Muktikanta Mandal
Remuna (SC)	Sudarshan Jena
Basta	Nityananda Sahoo
Sora (ST)	Parsuram Dhada
Champua	Tatwa Prakash Satapathy (Papu Pom Pom)
Andandpur (SC)	Mayadhar Jena
Morada	Praveen Bhanja Deo
Rairangpur (ST)	Saiba Sushil Hansda
Telkoi (ST)	Bedabyas Nayak
Keonjhar (ST)	Abhiram Nayak

AAP supports displaced people of Tata project in Ganjam

BHUBANESWAR: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday extended support to displaced villagers of the TISCO project in Gopalpur area of Ganjam district who are continuing dharna in front of the State Assembly here from March 18.

Members of the party at a Press meet at the dharna place here declared their political support to the genuine demands of the displaced people. AAP will fight for the rights of the displaced people, they announced.

“The displaced people have been taken for a ride by the company, the Government and various political parties,” said party’s State convener Nishikant Mohapatra, adding, “This is a perfect case of crony capitalism, where valuable land resources been handed over to corporate house that has clearly failed to give the benefit to the State or the displaced population that was expected and promised.”

Members of the Tata Bistapita Manch, a platform of displaced villagers of TISCO project, said the company was given over 3500 acres of prime land in Gopalpur for their proposed steel plant project almost 18 years ago. Although a resettlement colony has been set up by Tata group, many of the displaced families have a long list of complaints which remains un-addressed, they added.

Leader of the Manch P Tulasaya Reddy said the Tata Company failed to fulfill its commitment given in the time of land acquisition. Even the State Government also did pay heed to their demands, he added.

“We will continue our hunger strike at the lower PMG till our demands are fulfilled,” said Reddy.

53286 TB patients go undetected in State

BHUBANESWAR: As many as 53,286 missing number of TB patients in the State out of the total 98,670 estimated TB cases last year, said the findings of Citizens Report Card released by the Voice of Patients, an NGO, here on Monday on the occasion of the World TB Day.

The NGO said that only 45,384 TB patients have been registered for treatment last year out of the total estimated TB cases. The rest patients are yet to be detected, it added. The report card also revealed that total 3,749 drug resistant TB patients in the State, while 3,340 multi drug resistant TB patients were missing from treatment.

Though the Government has sanctioned enough funds for treatment of the patients, the NGO said, around 55 per cent patients don’t get treatment which is very unfortunate. The NGO questioned about thousands of missing TB cases and continuous reduction of detection rate in the State.

The organisation recommended the Government to increase the number of microscopic centres and numbers of senior treatment supervisors (STSs) to counter the staff crunch and lack of microscopic centres in the State. It also suggested the Government to conduct a regular review by the Health Secretary to improve the quality and process of the treatment. 

The Voice of Patient said that it will try to sensitise the Government and its functionary to think of the reality to control and prevent the largest killer disease which can be avoided.

Anna Hazaare to attend farmer’s convention in Bhubaneswar on Apr 1

--Include agriculture as 1st priority in election manifesto: NKS

BHUBANESWAR: Anti-graft crusader Anna Hazaare will attend Jai Kishan Mahasamabesh, a farmers’ convention, organised by the Navnirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS) at the PMG square here on April 1, said NKS coordinator Akshaya Kumar at a Press conference here on Sunday.

Similarly, Magsaysay award-winning water conservationist Dr Rajendra Singh Rane and noted Gandhian activist PV Rajgopal will also address thousands of farmers of the State in the convention, Kumar said.

The NKS, an organisation fighting for price, prestige and pension for farmers, came to limelight after its members entered into Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s residence on December 17, 2012. The members of the organisation were also surprisingly protested the State Government inside the heavily guarded Assembly on December 16 last year and also staged demonstration by blocking Chief Minister’s convoy on December 24 last year for which reason 26 activists were arrested under section 307 of IPC.

The members have been demanding the State Government to give proper value on prices of agricultural produces to farmers instead of giving a mere minimum support price (MSP). They had also demanded the State Government to amend relief code in order to help farmers of the State after crop loss.

In the convention, the NKS would call on all the political parties and candidates contesting the General Election to include agriculture in their election manifesto as first priority. “Whoever forms the Government, they have to solve farmers’ problems,” said Akshaya Kumar, adding, “If the Government does not pay heed to our demands, we the farmers of the State will dethrone them.”

NKS co-coordinator Seshadev Nanda said they have completed 50 days padyatra in 10 districts to make people aware about the real situation of the farmers in the State. “We found cotton mills, sugar mills and several agriculture-based industries in a defunct condition. There is no irrigation facility in several areas of the State for which farmers are migrating to different cities of the country to work like labourers,” Nanda said, adding, “Now we want commitment from the parties to solve the dangerous problems of farmers, if they voted to power.”         

Worker engaged in city Omfed plant dies

BHUBANESWAR: A worker was killed in an accident in the Omfed milk processing plant here on Sunday when he was engaged in dismantling a defunct chimney of plant-II, police sources said.

The deceased was identified as Pandu Senapati (48) of Bargarh district. He was employed as contractual worker in the plant, sources said. 

According to reports, Senapati was engaged to dismantle a 50 ft height defunct chimney of Plant-II with the help of a gas cutter. The chimney was expected to fall on the opposite side, but it unfortunately fell on him.

Senapati died on the spot and his body was sent to the Capital Hospital here for autopsy, said Chandrasekharpur police station IIC Sarat Kumar Sahoo and added that they have registered a case into the incident.

After the accident, tension prevailed in the plant premises for few hours. Later the work inside the plant was stopped, police sources said.

Over hundred BJD workers join BJP

BHUBANESWAR: More than one hundred workers led by their leaders from Puri, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj district joined the BJP on Sunday at the party office here in the presence of senior BJP leaders.

A BJD leader and former Jajpur MP Anchal Das joined the BJP in the presence of party’s spokesperson Sajjan Sharma, former BJP MLA Baidhar Mallick and several other leaders of the party. Academicians like Ramakant Bhoi of Tirtol and Prof Tusharkanti Behera of Kakatpur also joined the party.

Similarly, BJD leaders like Nishamani Baske and Pratap Chandra Rath along with their workers of Mayurbhanj district joined the BJP in the presence of party’s Mayurbhanj district committee president Krushna Chandra Mohapatra and senior leader Biswabhushan Harichandan at the party office here.

Agriculture sector must be strengthened in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: “Unless and until the agriculture and allied sector in the rural areas are strengthened, issue of unemployment and loss of productive human resources cannot be solved,” said representatives of farmer bodies addressing the Presspersons here on Saturday.

The farmer organisations under the banner of Odisha Krushak Sangathan Samuha (OKSS) unitedly demanded the political parties to add agricultural issues in their election manifesto.  

The farmer leaders stated the debt burden of farming families are rising and reaching unbearable limits. It is distressing to notice that more than 4604 farmers have committed suicide in Odisha between 1995 and 2011.

The farmer leaders said that 66 per cent of our agriculture land does not receive adequate irrigation even during Kharif season. The income to farmers as compared to agriculture input costs in negligible and private sector procurement agencies are either missing or highly exploitative, they added.

According to a member of a farmer body Saroj Mohanty, the Government infrastructure is inefficient and corrupt for which the farmers have to go for distress sales of agricultural produces. There is no effort by the Government to construct adequate number of warehouses and cold storages. Provision and accessibility of institutional credit, lack of insurance coverage, diversion of irrigation water to industries, land grabbing by industries are some other issues that add to the woes of the farmers, he added.

They demanded the State and the Central Government to ensure income security for all farm households, so that producers find it viable and dignity in their profession, and are not forced to leave agriculture out of distress.

Among others, Saroj Mohanty, Murari Prasad Purohit, Panchanan Dalpati, Simanchal Nayak, Muka Madkami and Bhajaman Mahanta were present.

Include forest right issues in manifestoes: CSD to political parties

BHUBANESWAR: Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD) Odisha, a group fighting for better implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), on Sunday urged all the political parties participating in the General Election 2014 to include issues related to forest rights and protection of scheduled fifth area in their manifestos.

The organisation appealed the political parties to promise for strengthening of the Gram Sabha. It has opined that there are many problems in the existing Panchaytiraj system in the State in which the community people hardly have any role in the decision making process and all the power has been centralised at the bureaucrats.

CSD suggested that the concept ‘Palli Sabha’ in a revenue village should be replaced with the concept ‘One Village-One Gram Sabha’ and ‘Hamlet-level Gram Sabha’ irrespective of revenue or un-surveyed village having a provision of more than 50 per cent quorum of the Gram Sabha as prescribed under FRA, 2006 and Panchayats Extension to the Scheduled Area (PESA) Act, 1996.

The organisation also urged the political parties to promise to save the ‘Scheduled Fifth Areas’, which is 46 per cent of the total geographical area of the State, mostly populated by the SCs and STs. Proper implementation of the PESA Act and the FRA should be the priority in the election manifestos of the political parties, it added.

Youth body observes World Water Day

BHUBANESWAR: City-based Eco Saver’s Youth Network (ESYN) in collaboration with the People’s Cultural Centre (PECUC), the Rotary Club of Heritage and the Institute of Media Studies (IMS) observed the World Water Day in the city on Saturday. More than 100 youths participated in the programme.

ESYN leader Sushree Shailani Suman presented while presenting a paper said that 768 million in the world have no access to safe and clean water. As level of ground water is decreasing very fast, more than half the nations in the world will face fresh water shortages by 2025, she added.

She also said the global demand for fresh water is expected to rise to 55 per cent by 2050. Lack of fresh water in third world countries will contribute to food insecurity and malnutrition, she added.

The theme for the World Water Day celebration of the year is ‘Water and Energy’. “We should take oath to stop misuse of water which is now called as source of energy,” said volunteers of the network Itishree, Dushmanta, Niharika and Srujan Bharadwaj.

BJD candidates list (phase-II) for 19 Assembly, 4 LS seats

Lok Sabha

Constituency	Candidate
Bhubaneswar	Prasanna Patsani
Jajpur	Rita Tarai
Jagatsinghpur	Dr Kulamani Samal
Kenonjhar	Sakuntala Laguri

Assembly

Baleswar	Jiban Pradeep Das
Jagatsinghpur	Bishnu Das
Paradip	Dr Damodar Rout
Dhenkanal	Saroj Samal
Tirtol	Dr Rajshree Mallik
Korei	Akash Das Nayak
Jayadev	Shashi Bhusan Behera
Bhubaneswar Central	Bjiay Mohanty
Ekamra	Ashok Panda
Ghasipura	Badrinaryan Patra
Sukinda	Pritiranjan Ghadai
Begunia	Prashanta Jagdev
Balikuda	Prasant Muduli
Patna	Hrushikesh Nayak
Satyabadi	Ramaranjan Baliarsingh
Pallahada	Mahesh Sahoo
Simulia	Jyotiprakash Panigrahi
Bhadrak-	Jugal Pattnaik
Kakatpur	Surendra Sethi