Hirakud displaced: Nightmare of living sans basic amenities

--Fishermen forced to go for distress sale

BHATLI (BARGARH): The Hirakud Dam, a manmade marvel inaugurated by first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, has brought spectacular change in the field of agriculture, industry, education and living standard of the people of the State, but at the same time, it became a malady for the villagers and people who left their home land for the greatest cause of human being.

Due to the project, the villagers were displaced from their home land. They went nearby areas while some of them settled far away from the land. The reservoir brought a few villages a nightmare as they got disconnected from the outside world. The local people had been depending on undivided Sambalpur district and when they became a part of newly born Bargarh district, they lost many benefits they used to get earlier.

Presently, though the displaced people belong to Bargarh district, they are using resources of Jharsuguda district. The nearby village islands of the reservoir are Bhutli, Rengali, Kurumkel, Gobindpur, Launsara, Zarimuli, San-Jampali, Kudokhai, Chhatadei and Bangapali. They come under Uttam panchayat of Ambabhona block in Bargarh district. The villages are covered by forest and water with a population of 2,500.

These cut-off villagers are living without basic facilities. They neither have roads to commute, nor have the luxury to watch a TV. These villages are 50km away from semi urban area Bhatli. The people of the area use local made boat to connect with the mainstream.

Another livelihood problem of the area is tax. Fishermen pay tax to both Jharsuguda and Bargarh district to sell their catches. Even they sell their fish at less than the market price, even as there is a fish cooperative at Tamdei of Uttam Panchayat in the district. Fishermen give `4 per 1 kg as tax for fishing on the reservoir. They sell 10-12 quintals of fish at `30-40 per kg to middlemen of other district. A majority area of the reservoir is in Bargarh district, but the fishermen of Jharsuguda district are a headache for the local fishers.

They come in dark night and leave the reservoir with a good catch before the locals enter. Because of the communication problem, the fishermen are bound to sell their fish at Thekra Cooperative of Jharsuguda district. They hire boat at `300 to cross the reservoir which is very costly, said a fisherman.

These isolated areas are situated at a distance of 18km from their panchayat. It takes a day to return from the Panchayat headquarters after taking their respective quota of Re 1 per kg rice because of vast forest and water surrounded area. They don’t have land property to use for farming. They don’t have electricity, water, sanitation and other emergency facilities.

The people of these villages are hard working. They fight with nature every moment to eke out a living. The women and children also operate boat and help in fishing. When fishermen cannot market their good catch, women dry the fishes.

...Enjoying life with 'Books'

-- Rekindle the love for reading --

City lad opens Odisha’s first online bookstore

BHUBANESWAR: ‘Enjoying life with books’, the tagline of a bookshop, Carry On, exhibited at the Bhubaneswar Book Fair, tells a different tale about the increasing interest among the new generation readers in books. Soumya Prateek Sahu, proprietor of Carry On, who has started his book business online, claimed that it is the first of its kind in the State.

Only 22-year-old, Sahu, a Commerce graduate and presently doing a professional course in a reputed university, had started the online bookshop six months back through social networking website Facebook. Later, he used other social networking websites to ask the readers for book orders from them.

For the first time, his bookshop has taken part in the fair with a stall having more than two lakh books. The stall has varieties of latest books catering to the needs of different sections of readers.

“I choose the latest books which can woo the new generation readers as well as the passionate old readers. I think books are not for showcasing or beautifying the library but a source of inspiration and enjoyment which can generate new ideas as well as refresh the mind,” said Sahu.

Sahu while showing the varieties of fiction and nonfiction books by nationally and internationally-reputed authors said he turned his passion into a career by setting up of an online bookstore. He was a booklover and a voracious reader from his childhood, always purchasing books to satiate his hunger for knowledge. At this age, youth normally continue with their studies or run after jobs, but he wanted to be an entrepreneur by starting book business, which he loves very much.

Sahu ruled out the concept that readers in the capital city don’t have interest in books. He was pleasantly surprised when around 30,000 books were sold in the book fair on last Sunday. Everyday, they bring more than 30,000 books to meet the demands of readers. Most of the buyers are young and give order through phone and e-mail, Sahu said.

Besides the books in English, Bengali and Hindi, Sahu provides Odia books online as most of the online bookshops do not do so. He is going to launch his professional website very soon with several features which, he hopes, would help booklovers.

Sahu’s father LN Sahu, a former senior civil judge, is helping his son in shaping of his dream. “I wished him to be an entrepreneur,” said the father, adding, “I respect my son’s wish as I always advise him to follow his own heart.”

Sahu, who is in the process of penning a fiction, said he would set up a bookshop in the capital city where the readers and writers could meet each other and share their feelings. “We will start a new trend to rekindle the love for reading and promote the reading habit among the new generations to create a healthy and knowledgeable society,” he ended. 

    

Killing of suspecting sorcery in the state is increasing….

…. Villagers kill old man suspecting sorcery practice in Ganjam

Berhampur: In the age of science, still people believe in superstition and sorcery. When the people are killed due to the suspicion of sorcery practice, spontaneously a question comes into the mind that why not this cases should not be examined thoroughly whether it has the truth or not!

The Government should try to clarify the suspicion of sorcery practice as an age old belief, otherwise impose ban on this practice, because every year people are dying for this reason. In Ganjam, it is very often, the heinous attacks on these people without lodging complain against the person in the police station.

Recently, an old man Ganapati Das (60) is killed by 15 villagers on this Sunday. It is happened in a Harijana village under Kodala police station of Ganjam. Before, the villagers were suspected that Ganapati was practicing sorcery in the village. So, they planned to kill the man, while he was going to take bath in the Jagatnala near the village. They succeeded in their plan. The old man breathed his last by the gang attack.

This is not the first case. Before, a person named Dinabandhu Swain (48) and his two sons were killed by the group of villagers of Lunipada under Gangapur police station of Ganjam in March 15 this year.

On May 25, two women were locked up by the villagers of Sangrampur village in Nilagiri of Balesore district suspecting witchcraft.

In February 1 this year, the Superstition over witchcraft has claimed three persons in Keonjhar district's Daitari and Telkoi police station area, they are Sambari Chattar (50) and her 40-year-old brother, Utsav Purty were axed to death while 55-year-old Kandiri Majhi of Koilisuta near Telkoi was beaten to death.

On May 10 this year, Gouri Murmu (17) chopped the head of her sister’s mother-in-law suspecting sorcery and then surrendered to the Bisoi police station of Mayurbhanj district with the chopped head. In the same month, two persons including a woman were killed by their relatives suspecting witchcraft in Bisoi and Karanjia police station areas of the district.

In April 2011, members of two families were paraded and force fed animal excreta after being accused of witch craft in Deogarh district’s Sunamunda village.

There are many cases of murder alleging sorcery happening in the state, but the cases are not coming to the light and not in the media. Killings in the districts of Balesore, Ganjam, Khurda, Sundergarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj have witnessed more cases of murder alleging sorcery.

According to a study by the Orissa Rationalists Society (ORS) at least 56 persons have been murdered across 21 districts in the name of superstition in 2010 alone.

Apart from that, the practice of “magic palanquins” techniques by the experienced and trained sorcery practitioners hired by the villagers to pick out the wicked witchcraft practitioners of the village. After pick out them by this technique, which can not be taken as true, the villagers punish them by shaving their head, breaking their teeth. Sometimes the villagers force them to eat human excreta with a huge amount of fine. If the persons accused by the village committee disobey their order, they kill them or isolate from the village.

This is a serious matter now days. It is a human rights violation, to kill someone. Without complaining at the police and complain at the court, the ruffians, superstitious persons are killing the persons is a serious offence.

The villagers have no right to take anyone’s life. It is the serious violation of the person’s fundamental right and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which advocates about the right to life.

This is a social taboo like offering and sacrifices of human bodies. This sorcery killing is not less than honour killing of Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. To curb this social stigma an appropriate step is the need of hour, claims the rationalist bodies of Ganjam.

Jumbos return back again

Jumbos return back again

.... Pachyderms’ terror in Ganjam Block

Berhampur: After two months duration, the jumbos returned back again to Ganjam area. A herd of 30 wild elephants were in the forests near the villages. It is a headache for the Forest Department and the district administration to drive away the pachyderms again and again.

There are 12 numbers of jumbos of a herd creating nuisance in the villages since last year. Two months before, a farmer named Rabindra Kumar Behera of Rambha area was trampled by the Jumbos for which reason the irate villagers of Biruligada, Rambha were on strike and resorted to road blockade on NH-5 at Rambha.

The affected areas are Subalaya, Bahadapalli, Satrusole, Sana Ramchandrapur, Burudi, Bahadapalli, Biruligada, Madhurchua, Diandei, Panasadiha, Rambha, Ranidara, Palang, Balarampur, Khandadeuli, Poirasi, Ambilijhara, B.Kainchapur, Jagannathpur, Sana Gopalpur, Lauput, Kushapalli, Satuli, Malada, Borigaon, Kalajamuna and Ganjam.

The administration had started operation Gajanana to drive away the wild Jumbos. For this purpose it had brought two elephants from Similipal forest range and two Mahuts from Assam for training purpose to chase away the pachyderms. After the operation, people calmed down. But the re-entering of the wild elephants left the people in fear of crop damage.

Nowdays most of the elephants are coming here from Chandaka Reserve Forest through the Khallikote forest range. As most of the jungle areas are narrower than before and in the encroachment of the land mafias and wood mafias. Shortage of forest food and breathing space force them to search for a better inhabitation and environment for their sustenance. But the common people are suffering from this problem.

In the last Kharif season, a herd of pachyderms had destroyed the paddy seedlings in some fields near Satuli, Borigaon, and in the cluster villages under Ganjam Block. The irate villagers had given the memorandum to DFO for a better solution to the problem. But the Government could not succeed to bring a permanent solution to this problem.

Eight persons were died and many more injured of the Jumbo attack. Many thatched houses and paddy fields were damaged by these wild animals.

The farmer bodies cautioned that if the Government will not take any remedial measure and pre-cautionary steps to curb this problem, then the farmers may take the law into their hand. As their life line is agriculture and vegetable farming is being destroyed, they could not take it easy. The sowing has completed, it is the time of growing. If the elephants will create nuisance, then the crop will be damaged. The Government should apply a planned strategy to chase away the pachyderms from the paddy areas.

ELECTRONIC MEDIA NEEDS SELF-REGULATORY SYSTEM: I & B MINISTER

Hemanta Kumar Pradhan

We have a press council of India to keep eye on the press, similarly we need a self regulatory system for electronic media to evaluate and regulate as the number of satellite channel is rising day by day, said minister of the state for information and broad casting, government of India Mr. Chaudhary Mohan Jatwa while interacting with the student of the Post Graduate Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Berhampur University.

On 24th February 2011, 4th semester students of the respective department met the Minister in his Kolkata office while they were in study tour. The Minister discussed with the student about the challenges and opportunities in media and different ethical issues regarding television channels.

On the rise of satellite channels he said, “Now we have 635 television channels along with 35 government channels. Around 250 are waiting for the recommendation. Obviously they need trained men power in news, advertising and entertainment which will create more job opportunities for the student of mass communication.” Minister supplemented the answers with Professor Sunilkant Behera, Head, Department Journalism and Mass Communication, Berhampur University.

Advertising sector is growing now. It has good prospect. The web journalism and online advertising has given a new dimension of job opportunity, minister answered a question asked by 4th semester student Priya Priyadarshini. Answering a question asked by Hemanta Kumar (4th sem) on paid news syndrome, minister said, it is a headache for all of us. Our hand is tied because of constitutional guarantee of article 19. But our ministry is not sitting idle; we are looking into the matter.

According to the article 19(1A) of the Indian constitution, every person has freedom of speech and expression as it is the fundamental right of a citizen, Government can’t impose restriction on electronic media, but we can evaluate and regulate the sensational, unethical as well as lower grade programmes which is used to attract the audience now days, he said. At the fag end of the meeting, Prof. Pradeep Chandra Mahapatra, PG Department of Journalism and Mass Communication expressed vote of thanks to the minister.