IRRESPONSIBLE REPORTING BY A DAILY REPORTER CREATES PANIC IN THE STATE

A leading daily of Odisha carried a headline in today that 'ADM, BDO and JE have been kidnapped' in the Chandrapir block of Rayagada district, which incidently is the most naxal affected block in the district. This sent a panic wave in not just the district, but also in the entire state and ripples are felt in the state capital as well. Infact yesterday itself the electronic channel of the same media group carried a news item that the BDO Chandrapur has been kidnapped. Within hours the district police inquired and found that the news item is false and all concerned, including the media persons were informed accordingly. However inspite of this the media group in its daily has carried in the front page headline news of abduction of BDO, ADM and JE, which is nothing but a clear case of irresponsible reporting.

It is said that this irresponsible reporting from the reporter daily has been critized by the members of the press themselves, who are told to have said that this is a an attempt of individual reporter to gain public attention by engaging in sensationalism, unmindful of the effect it will have on the relatives of those who are falsely said to have been kidnapped, in particular and govt officials and people in general.

This episode further brings to fore the issue of standards and accountability of media perssons.A senior citizen in Rayagada has said that media has a very important role to play in a democracy and all sorts of freedom is given to them. However with this kind of mindset, the freedom is more often than not, misused.
People in general, in the district, are seen to be very angry about this behaviour from the otherwise reputed media house and there is demand to call for their explanation by the government.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARENESS CAMP IN RAYAGADA

An entrepreneurship awareness camp was organised by the District Employment office in UGMIT Polytechnic in Rayagada today.

LABOUR UNREST SOLVED IN JK PAPERMILL

The deadlock due to the labour unrest that was going on for more than 10 day in JK paper mill finnaly came to an end on 25th Dec. After rounds of meetings and negotiations between the managent and one contractual labour union, the matter could not be solved. Initially the demand was of wage parity between the contractual and regular unskilled labour. From the earlier daily wage rate of 102 odd plus 7 more in form of subsidies, the labour unions demanded a wage hike of Rs. 200, taking the daily wages to more than Rs. 300. For a week there was no decision. The district administration had intervened through the District Labour officer, making it very clear that it will only facilitate the negotiations and limit its role to checking whether minimum wages and entitlements are given or not. The district administration had made it very clear that it wont decide anything about the quantum of hike and as a bench mark, it suggested the minimum wage that is given in MGNREGS, i.e Rs. 125.

The district administration intervened directly for three times to solve the deadlock, which was getting worse, with the labour union representatives taking law in to their own hands and physically obstructing willing workers and even housemaids of officers from entering the premises. The situation changes only after a stern warning from the side of the district administration, that those involved in lawlessness will be taken to task, irrespective of its repercussions on the industrial climate.

After coming down their initial stand of not accepting anything less than equal pay for daily wage contractual labourers with those of regular ones, the discussion then finally came to deciding the wage hike. after series of negotiations it was finally agreed by both the sides that the daily wages will be hiked to Rs. 150, which happens to be the highest in the area and on an agreement that there wont be any more hike even if the minimum wage is revised by teh government and it happens to be below this agreed hike.

Sub Collector Rayagada, Sri. Mishra and dist labour officer played a major role in in diffusing the crisis.

EX MLA RAYAGADA AND VETERAN CONGRESS LEADER RAMCHANDRA ULAKA PASSES AWAY

Sri. Ramchandra Ulaka, Ex MLA Rayagada and a senior congress leader passed away at a ripe age of 78 in Bhubaneshwar yesterday, due to cardiac stroke.
Sri. Ulaka had was 6 time MLA and 2 time MP. He was also a cabinet minister for two terms. He was born in a small village in Kalyansinghpur block and rose to the ranks by sheer hard work. His political career started in 1962 when he was elected to the Loksabha and continued in active politics till his death.
Collector Rayagada visited the family and paid his respects to the dpearted soul. "The district has lost a great son, one who had guided its development during his long political career. This void is difficult to fill", he said.
People from all walks of life are expressing their condolences to the bereaved family and are paying homage to this great tribal leader.
FOSM pays tribute to this great soul.

LINK TO RI, ARI, AMIN RECRUITMENT EXAM ADVERTISEMENT RAYAGADA

VISIT OF DIG AND COLLECTOR RAYAGADA TO VILLAGES WITH CASES OF DEATHS AND SEVERE ILLNES DUE TO CONSUMPTION OF SALAPA

Collector Rayagada, along with BDO and Tahsildar Kolnora and with officials of Excise dept, visied the cluster of villages from where cases of severe illness and deaths due to consumption of contaminated Salapa were reported. The villages are Kumbhaiguda, Rodangi, Bada Khilapadar, Gundumai.

Earlier in the day, Sri. Soumendra Priyadarshi, IPS, DIG SWR also visited the area and assessed the situation in the villages showing cases of such severe illness. He also visited the patients in DHH Rayagada and interacted with them and their relatives.

Collector Rayagada visited the bereaved families and ensured them all the required support from the district administration. The BDO Kolnora has been instructed to extend benifit under National Family Benefit Scheme and to refer the case to Sub Collector Rayagada for widow pension.

 After local inquiry with the relatives of the deceased and the villagers in the locality including public representatives and SHGs, it has been seen that the incident has been due to consumption of Salapa, a toddy like liquid. The excise squads have taken some samples of the Salapa pots tied to the Salapa tree, wherein it was founds that it contained roots of some trees, locally called as Chera, which is used to ferment the Salapa, in Sunlight. This Chera at times becomes contaminant and results in food poisoning. There has been so far no indication towards any illegal distillation or circulation of spurious liquor in the locality in this matter.  However Collector Rayagada said that all angles are being examined and the root of this menace will be traced out.Meanwhile condition of those admitted in DHH Rayagada and MKCG medical college Berhmapur, is said to be stable.

CONSUMPTION OF CONTAMINATED SALAP ( TODDY LIKE INTOXICANT) LEADS TO DEATH AND SEVERE ILLNESS IN KOLNORA

The district administration its its letter to the Commissioner-cum-Secretary Excise dept has informed that it received reports of severe illness of some people of Badakhilapdar village in Kolnara Block reportedly due to consumption of Salap along with Meat during a Bhoji ( ceremonial feast) after completion of thrashing of paddy yesterday.

Of the 9 patients that were admitted to District Headquarters Hospital Patnanu Lanta, 26 years (Gold Smith) S/o Patnanu Anand Rao, and Lacha Peribaka (45 Years), S/o Diudu Peribaka expired. Of the rest 7 , two patients namely Sri Ramachandra Achary(35 Years), Sri Prunachadra Kondagori (50 years) have already been shifted to MKCG Medical College Hospital, Berhampur for higher treatment.

 Massive enforcement measures have been ordered in that area by Collector Rayagada. The officers of excise and police department have formed squads and are monitoring the entire area. On the basis of reports received so far from the villages and also from the relatives of the patients its revealed that the cases of sever illness have occurred due to consumption of Salapa along with Meat and Rice.

 The Sub-Collector, Rayagada who was directed by Collector Rayagada to move to the area and take stock of the situation visited the Badakhilapodar village along with SDPO and Kolnora IIC and inquired in detail about the incident. His observation is that the patients,who are admitted to DHH , Rayagada, had consumed the Salapa from one particular source and the extracted Salap might have been contaminated. This has been testified by the villagers in the locality during his visit. The situation is under control and there have been no further cases as such. However, all the officers in that area have been instructed to monitor the situation closely.

 So far there is nothing to indicate that this incident has occurred due to consumption of illicit liquor. However, deaths of persons due to this and subsequent development are being monitored closely and necessary steps to keep the situation under control. Also the charge of Excise Superintendent has been given to Sub-Collector,Rayagada which was earlier with Deputy Superintendent of Excise, Rayagada . These facts have also been appraised to he office of Hon'ble CM and to the Revenue Divisional Commissioner, Southern Division.

ODISHA SAHITYA AKADEMI CONDUCTS SAHITYA SAMMELAN IN RAYAGADA

A Sahitya Sammelan ( Lieterary Symposium) was conducted in the town of Rayagada Municipality today. The sammelan was to be inaugurated by the Hon'ble Minister for SC/ST development, Sri. Lal Bihari HImirika, but because of important assembly work, he could not attend. The function was graced by the presence of eminent literary figures from Odisha, such as Prof. Tikayatrai whose was Chairman of the Odisha Bhasha Pratishtan. Collector Rayagada was the guest of honor.

 The sammelan included deliberations on the literary matters, followed by a Kavi Sammelan. The theme this time was ' tribal cultural and languages'. The speakers deliberated in length on matters related to development of Odia language and culture. The speakers reiterated their demand for recognition of Odia as a classical language.

 Collector Rayagada stressed the need to develop and protect tribal languages and for the asme, he informed that a society has been formed named, 'Kui Sanskruti Nehi Kutumi', with the help of eminent citizens well versed with the Kui language of the Kandha tribals, spoke over large tracts of Rayagada, Koraput, Kalahandi and Kandhamal. The primary task of the society is to collect various tribal literature, including folklores and songs and publish them. Another major task is to decide about the script of the Kui language.

4TH ORIENTATION PROGRAM-CUM- PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL FOR JR. CLERKS CONDUCTED

After the recruitment of Jr. clerks in the district, the district administration has been conducting orientation programs meant for updating the skills of the ministerial staff. Three such programs were conducted by the district administration. This time along with orientation, it was decided by Collector Rayagada to conduct an appraisal test for the newly recruited clerks to assess their competence win day to day work.V. Jayakumar, IAS,Sub Collector Gunupur conducted the program. He gave a presentation about noting, drafting and different types of letters that are used for different purposes. Along with him, some senior and experienced ministerial staff trained the newly appointed ones about various skills that a good clerk should learn and imbibe.

DROUGHT SITUATION GETS CRITICAL IN RAYAGADA DISTRICT

Collector Rayagada in his letter to the Special Relief Commissioner has informed that in Rayagada District the drought like situation has become precarious and as things stand 145 out of 171 Gramapanchayats ( list given separately) have shown crop loss of more than 50 %.( Paddy as well as Non-paddy) The situation was fine till the first week of October,2011 because of intermittent rains. However, by the start of November, 2011 things started to get worse as there was no rain fall there after. Even in those G.Ps. where the crop loss is not reported to be more than 50 % there is still heavy crop loss in the range of 30 to 40 %. Winter crop cutting experiments are going on in full swing in the district and a detailed report will submitted based on the findings of this joint crop cutting experiments, as prescribed by the Relief code, by the end of December, 2011. However, based on this latest findings from the field, it is seen that more than 45% of the total cultivable area has already reported crop loss to the tune of more than 50%. The situation has become very critical and Collector Rayagada has requested the government to declare the entire district as drought affected. Given below is the list of the GPs having more than 50% crop loss.

OTELP REVIEW: BACKYARD POULTRY & GOATERY

RAYAGADA POLICE SEIZE MAJOR ARMS DUMP OF NAXALS

 Rayagada Police have recovered huge cache of arms and ammunitions from a Maoist dump located in the dense forest surrounded Situagudi village of  Chandrapur  block bordering Phulbani district on Monday.

15 landmines weighing 5 kg each, 18 Tiffin carriers used for making bomb, 14 country-made guns, 6 pressure bombs, 50 detonator empty cases,17 detonators, 6 gun barrels, 8 12 bore rounds,5 HE grenades,6 country made bullets,5 wire bundles and Maoist literatures have been recovered from the dump.

Superintendent of Police Anoop Krishna said the dump was made by Maoist leader Azad 2-3 years back and was to be put to use to carry out major attack in the district and the neighboring areas. Particularly after the elimination of Kishenji, there were intelligence reports of major retributive action from the side of the naxals. The seizure of this cache therefore assumes great importance and has certainly helped in averting what could have other been a major setback for the police forces engaged in anti Maoist operations.

 This seizure happens to be another major achievement of Rayagada Police this year after the major encounter in the Kashipur area, where more than 13 Maoists were killed in exchange of fire with the forces.

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BODY BUILDING COMPETITION IN RAYAGADA

As a part of the ongoing Yuva Mohatsava ( Youth festival), whichis organized as a part of the state level festival by sports department, a body building competitiion was organized in Rayagada town hall today. The idea of district level body building competition was mooted when some body builders came to call on Collector Rayagada after having won some competition. The district administration was then planning the dist level youth festival. Collector Rayagada proposed to include a body building competition as  part of the youth festival and the district sports officer, Sri. Satyanarayan Senapati coordinated with the concerned officials and people in general to organize this competition.
Many youth from poor background, most of them belonging to tribal communities, participated with great enthusiasm in this competition. Body building is a resource intensive task. For a person from poor background, maintaining the levels of nutrition and at the same time supporting the family is a tight rope walk. It is only their passion and dedicated to this art or sport whatever one may like to call it, that inspite of all hardships and impediments, these boys dedicate themselves to this task. To encourage them cash prizes were given instead of trophies or shields. Some of the prizes were sponsored by Collector Rayagada himself. While addressing the participants, Collector Rayagada told them that their strength and skills will be put to best use, if it is used in the interest of the society and to help protect the poorer and weaker sections of the society.
Many persons from Rayagada district who were into body building, but have ceased to be actively associated with this aport, had come to see this competition i the Town hall of Rayagada Municipality, which was more than filled to its capacity.

SELECTION OF EXCISE CONSTABLES

The Excise Commissioner, Odisha has sanctioned three posts of Excise Constable to Rayagada district vide their letter No-4923/Ex., dated 11.7.2011 and the roster wise vacancies were published centrally in Odia dailies. The roster wise vacancies are as follows: 
1. S.C. (Women)------------01
2. U.R.(Male)-----------------01
 3. S.T. (Male)-----------------01

 As per the guidelines of the Excise Commissioner, Odisha a District Level Selection Ccommittee was formed comprising of the Collector as Chairman, Supdt. of Police, District Sports Officer and District Welfare Officer as members and the Supdt. of Excise as Member-Convener to scrutinize the application, measure the physical standard and conduct the physical and written test. In response to the Notification 94 (Ninety four) applications were received within the stipulated date i.e. by 30.09.2011 and 02 (two) applications received after due date on 10. 10.2011 and 12.10.2011. After formation of the Committee, 1st meeting was conducted on 08.11.2011 & 9.11.2011 to scrutinize the applications. The following members & their nominees were present.

 1. Sri Durga Prasad Mahapatro, O.A.S-I, Tahasildar, Rayagada (nominee of the Collector-Cum-Chairman)
2. Sri V.R.Rao, Dy. Supdt. Of Police, Rayagada (nominee of the Supdt. of Police, Rayagada)
3. Sri Ganeswar Bharimal A.D.W.O., Rayagada (Nominee of D.W.O.)
4. Sri Satya Narayana Senapati, District Sports Officer, Rayagada
5. Sri Bijay Kumar Mishra, O.E.S-II, I/c Superintendent of Excise, Rayagada Member-Convener.

 The two applications received after the due date has not been taken into consideration & rejected by the Committee and kept in the closed cover. The remaining 94 (Ninety four) applications along with the proforma biodata were placed before the Committee for scrutiny. It is seen that, Some of the applicants from general and SEBC category have deposited the application fee in shape of I.P.O. instead of Bank draft as required in the notification. It is also seen that, although there is no vacancy notified for S.C. (Male) category, 19 applications were received from S.C. Male category. In this regard the Excise Commissioner, Odisha vide their letter No-8018/Ex., dated 09.11.2011 has clarified that, there is no legal bar to accept Indian Postal Order subject to decision of the District Selection Committee and the S.C. (Male) candidates applied shall be considered against U.R. category.

Hence, it was decided by the committee that, all the candidates those who have deposited the application fee through I.P.O shall be allowed to physical test and all the S.C. (Male) candidates shall be allowed against U.R. category. Out of the 94 (ninety four) applications, 25 (twenty five) application were rejected due to the defects mentioned against each of their names in annexure-A and reflected in the register. Hence, The committee was finally decided to issue call letters to the 69 (Sixty Nine) (64 male + 05 female) candidates to appear for the physical measurement and Physical Test on 28.11.2011 & 29.11.2011.

 On 28.11.2011 all the members of the recruitment committee were remain present during physical measurement test. The D.S.P., Rayagada & A.D.W.O., Rayagada were present on behalf of the S.P., Rayagada & D.W.O., Rayagada respectively. The Tahasildar, Rayagada was also present as the nominee of the Collector, Rayagada. Out of 69 candidates 16 candidates (15 male + 1 female) were remained absent in the physical measurement test. The original documents of the remaining 53 candidates were verified and the physical measurement was done in presence of all the members at R.S.E.W.C. Govt. High School, J.S.Co., Rayagada. Out of 53 candidates (49 male + 4 female), 27 candidates (25 male + 02 female) were disqualified in physical measurement.

 The remaining 26 candidates (male-24 & female-02) were selected for physical efficiency test held on the same day ie. on 28.11.2011. In the Physical Efficiency test, broad Jump was conducted initially and out of 26 candidates 05 candidates (04 male + 01 female) were dis-qualified in broad jump. The details of broad jump and the marks obtained by the candidates is enclosed in two sheets for both male and female candidates separately as annexure-IV & V respectively. The rest 21 (male-20 + female-1) candidates were called to appear for 1.6 kms Run. In the event 15 (male-14 + 1 female) candidates were dis-qualified.

 No further events were conducted for female candidates as all the female candidates were dis-qualified. The remaining 06 male candidates were called for Rope climbing. Out of six male candidates one candidate disqualified in Rope climbing.

Hence, the remaining 05 male candidates were called for high jump and Swimming test for the very next day i.e on 29.11.2011 On 29.11.2011 all the provisionally selected 05 male candidates were present before the committee and appeared for high jump. All the candidates were qualified in the high jump.

 After completion of high jump test, all the 05 eligible candidates were called for swimming test. The swimming test was taken up at a pond located near village “Munising” under Chandili P.S. All precautionary measure was taken for the safety of the candidates. As per the guidelines, swimming test was conducted for 40 mtrs. All the above 05 candidates were qualified in the swimming test.

 The academic performance of the 05 candidates was also verified from the original certificates of the candidates. As none of the candidates have obtained 41% or more in the H.S.C examination as required, so the marks against the academic performance is found to be zero for all the candidates.

 As per the notification made by the Excise Commissioner, Odisha the candidates those who were qualified in the physical measurement and physical test called for written test. The written test was conducted on 11.12.2011 at 11.30 AM in the D.R.D.A. Conference Hall, Rayagada in presence of all the members and Chairman-cum-Collector, Rayagada. After completion of the written test all the answer sheets were kept in a closed cover under proper seal in presence of the members and the candidates and handed over to the Chairman of the District Level Selection Committee.

 A final mark list have been prepared indicating the marks obtained in physical measurement, physical efficiency test, educational achievement and written test is kept in records. The final merit list have been prepared on the basis of final marks obtained by the candidates in the physical measurement, physical efficiency test, educational achievement and written test. The detailed merit list is noted below.

 01 28 Gen Sri Santosh Chatti Merit No. -01
 02 29 Gen Sri Raj Mohan Deo Merit No. -02
 03 76 S.C. Sri Chandan Pani Merit No. -03
 04 42 S.T. Sri Niranjan Majhi Merit No. -04
 05 81 S.C. Sri Akula Raja Merit No. -05

 According to the final merit list, Sri Santosh Chatti (UR) and Sri Niranjan Majhi (ST) was selected as Excise Constable against UR and ST category respectively. As none of the lady candidates qualified in the physical efficiency test, the Committee has decided to put forth the matter before the Excise Commissioner, Odisha for filling up the vacancy against SC women. The committee concluded the process and requested the Member- Convener to send all the required documents, broad sheets, mark sheets to the Excise Commissioner, Odisha for kind approval.

VISIT OF WORLD FOOD PROGRAM TEAM TO RAYAGADA

The World Food Program team headed by Mr. Torben Due, Director Operations and comprising of Mr. John Aylieff, Deputy Regional Director for Asia, Mr. Peter Rodrigues Senior program advisor, Office of Deputy Executuve Director Operations, Ms. Mihoko Tamamura, Representaive & Country head for India WFP, Mr. Micheal Jensen, Deputy Country Director India WFP, visited Rayagada district today to asses the progress and future requirements of the Biometric based targeted PDS project that is being implemented in the Rayagada district. Ms. Ravneet Kaur IAS, Joint Secretary from the ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India was also present.
Collector Rayagada, Dr. Nitin.B.Jawale, IAS gave a presentation on the project in general and the latest issues in particular as given below:




After the inauguration of the project on 18th August 2010, number of errors were detected in the database such as wrong classification of a beneficiaries ( BPL being classified as APL), mistakes in names, village and Gram Panchayat names and like. The quantum of such mistakes was about 5% of the database of about 1.9 lakh odd. Also there was the issue of the persons whose names figured in the 1997 BPL survey, but were not included in the 2002 survey, but still were enrolled under this project and were issued with Biometric based smart cards or bar coded cards and coupons. The allotment for such beneficiaries is an issue that needs to be sorted out, as the district administration does not get allotment for these beneficiaries.Lastly the issue of left out households remains.
These impediments prevented the full and final roll out of this project in the form of generation of computerized MIS. For a year district administration with the support of WFP had been working at rectifying the errors in the database and at this stage, as things stands, most of the wrong classification cases have been rectified and their cards sent for printing by WFP. The district administration will distribute these cards as soon as it receives from WFP. Also for the enrollment of the left out families, which again forms about 5% of the total database of household, 2 mobile vans have been kept at the disposal of the district administration. Only if the issue of the households who have already been issued biometric based cards, but fro whom the district administration does not receive allotment, is sorted out by either the Govt of India or the state govt, the district administration will be in a position to operationalize the MIS in full. This will then make this project a model to be replicated elsewhere in the state or the country.
Inspite of these glithces the project implematation has ensured that about 22,000 bogus/ ghost cards were eliminated and leakages and pilferages in the PDS were effectively checked, which resulted in the saving of Rs. 3 crore sin one year in this district alone.
Because of the specific last mile issues and problems, the Collector Rayagada stressed the need for enhancing the handholding period by WFP for another year, after the the previous duration ends in May 2012.
In the afternoon the team visited the Maitree Fair Price Shop in Rayagada Municipality area and the Penta GP office, which also acts as a FPS. The team closely examined the working of this system in urban areas, where the essential commodities are distributed by the way of a PoS ( Point of Sale) device, which reads the biometric based smart cards and in the rural area, the system, which is based of bar coded card and coupons.

VISIT OF HIS EXCELLENCY, SRI. MURLIDHAR BHANDARE, GOVERNOR OF ODISHA

RAYAGADA CHAITI 2011 SPECIAL

COTTON PROCUREMENT MEETING CONDUCTED

Rayagada district is one of the few cotton growing districts in the state of Odisha. This year due to less than normal rainfall the cotton crop is likely to suffer. In this backdrop the cotton procurement meeting was conducted in the Rayagada on 29.11.11 in the DRDA conference hall. Other than Collector Raygada and officials of the Agriculture depy, such as Deputy Director Agriculture and Subject Matter Specialist (SMS) cotton, the meeting was attended by cotton millers, Representative of Cotton corporation of India (CCI) and the agencies which are a part of contract farming in this district.
One of the major development is that unlike last year, the cotton will be procured at Minimum Support Price, as was the practice in the years previous to last one. Last year CCI had decided to do away with the MSP and instead the farmers had to sell their produce at the prevalent market rate.
Also the issue of non flowering of the seed provided by one agency, Pratibha Syntex was raised by Collector Rayagada. The representatives of Pratibha Syntex were told to explain about the situation. According tho them , the had supplied the JK Durga variety, which was supplied last year also and there was no problem with germination or flowering. The seeds were supplied by one Naveen Jain from Madhya Pradesh and it was apparently the same variety as last year. However it remains to be understood as to why the germination and flowering did not occur this year. Collector Rayagada categorically told them, that the responsibility is squarely theirs and one thousand odd farmers that have procured seed from them need to be compensated properly. Since there has been no problem with the seeds supplied by the other two agencies, it is inferred that the seeds supplied by Pratibha Syntex were of spurious quality and has lead to loss to the farmers. Collector Raygada stressed the need to compensate the farmers who have sustained loss, as Cotton cultivation is a capital intensive task and any failure may lead to serious repercussion.
SMS cotton informed the house that this year the yield will be reduced from 18 bales per acre to 12 , due to bad rains.

RAYAGADA CHAITI 2011 FULL HD VIDEOS ( INCLUDES PERFORMANCE OF DR.GIRIDHAR GAMANAG)

RAYAGADA CHAITI FESTIVAL 2011. SLIDE SHOW

CHAITI FESTIVAL 2011- DAY 1

Chaiti Festival, Rayagada. Nov 25-27, 2011

CHAITI FESTIVAL STARTS FROM PAIKAPADA SHIVA TEMPLE

The Chaiti festival was kick started from the Ancient Shaivite site ( AD 776) of Paikapada near Therubali in Rayagada district. This site has a Shiva temple known popularly as Pataleshwar and a host of other deities, such as Dakshin Kali, Kankali, Hara Parvati, Biranchi Narayan, Jaleshwar and even the Buddha. There are said to be 99,99,999, i.e one short of one crore, Shiva lingas that were built in this area about 1400 years back.

The district administration decided to launch the annual Chaiti festival from this site, in keeping with the tradition of launching the festival from a site of historical, cultural or geographical importance.

PADDY PROCUREMENT MEETING CONDUCTED

ROAD WORK IN FULL SWING IN RAYAGADA

The work on the Rayagada town portion of the Vijaywada Ranchi corridor project is in full swing. Collector Rayagada told that the district administration had been monitoring the progress on daily basis, after the major impediments in the road work such as shifting of electrical poles and cutting/ trimming of trees was completed. These works took unduly long time because of the failure of the concerned agencies to act up in time. But with the intervention of Collector Rayagada, who stood on the road and ensured that the necessary shifting was done in time, things are moving swiftly. The town portion is expected to be completed within two months. The only impediment that is left to be worked out is that of shifting of the water pipe line, for which the district administration has made provision of funds and the only thing that is left is the submission of estimates with technical sanction by the PHD.
It is important to know that the district administration has played an important role in the progress of this road project, which ideally should be done by the concerned departments on their own, as is done is most of the states. The role of the district administration ideally should be limited in coordination between different departments, but in this case the district administration also made provision of funds for the different departments. however with almost all obstacles removed the district HQ town can now hope to see a state of the art four lane highway soon, with central lighting and signal system along with road furniture such as road arches.

RAYAGADA CHAITI-2011 POSTERS

127th FOUNDER'S DAY CELEBRATED IN JK PAPER MILL RAYAGADA

JK Paper Mill, Rayagada celebrated the 127th Founders Day today, which is observed on the birth anniversary of Lala Kamlapat Singhania( 1884-1937). Collector Rayagada was the Chief guest on this occassion. Lala Kamlapat Singhania is the pioneer of the JK group, a major industrial houses of the country, which was named after taking the first letters of the name of father of Lala Kamlapat Singhania, Sri. Juggilal Singhania ( 1857-1922) and his own name.
Binodi Ram Singhania, the grandfather of Kamlapat Singhania, migrated frim their ancestral village SInghana, in the Shekawati region of Rajasthan to Kanpur and it is from here that the family rose to prominence. Lala Kamlapat Singhania and ardent nationalist and visionary founded the JK group in 1910.
The JK papermill was set up in the Chandili village 10 kms from Rayagada in the year 1962. It is among the first industries to be set up in the region, along with the IMFA ferro-alloys plant.
About fifty years back the first sheet of paper was rolled in this mill and now the industry has taken up expansion and modernization project , with state of the art machinery being installed, which will not only reduce pollution, but also increase efficiency. The authorities at JK paper mill plan to roll out paper with the new machines on the same day next year.
Collector Rayagada said that fifty years down the line, JK papermill has become a part of the history, geography and culture of this district. Its a major landmark in the district and is the identity of the district outside Orissa. He cited an example of a local entrepreneur ,who was during his visit to Delhi, asked about the location of Rayagada, a place he belonged and he is said to have pointed at the sheets of the JK office paper in that office and said he belongs to the place where this paper is made.
Collector Rayagada also requested the increased participation of JK paper mill in the beautification of the district, particularly in the matter of providing road arch signage and high mast lights, along with the support to the farmers and SHGs, that they are already providing.
The 40 employees of the Paper mill, who completed 25 years of service were felicitated by the Collector Rayagada in the function.

COMMON REVIEW MISSION (CRM) TEAM FINISHES ITS RAYAGADA VISIT.

The Common review Mission (CRM)from Health ministry, Govt of India finished its 3 day tour of the district. The team arrived in Rayagada on 10th of November. Team was lead by Sri.Ranjit Pandit, IFS Director, Health & Family Welfare, Govt of India and other members were, Dr. Sadananda Sahu, Deputy advisor, Department of AYUSH, Sri. adhikari, Ms. Anuradha and others.
The team on the first day held a meeting in which Collector Rayagada, CDMO Rayagada and other senior doctors of the District Headquarter Hospital and other related officials. CDMO Rayagada, Dr. Benudhar Nayak, appraised the team of the functioning if the various programmes being implemented under NRHM. Collector Rayagada appraised the steps taken last year to combat the epidemic diarhheal diseases, the outbreak of which was a major issue for the health department last year. He aslo appriased the team about the preventive measures taken this year, like sensitization of the community about the genesis and spread of the epidemic diarrheal diseases such as Cholera through the audio visual medium in the 'Kui' the language of the local tribal community and measures such as 'Downstream managemen't by the way of stream chlorination. A a result there was not only no outbreak of epidemic in diarhheal disease in the district this year, but also no casualty due to epidemic diarhheal disease, even when there were two outbreaks in the neighbouring districts and some cases in the districts.
The team then visited the district HQ hospital and the next day there were field visited to different sectors of the districts. During the debriefing session on the last day the team appreciated the efforts of the health department of the district in implementing the programmes of the health Ministry of Govt. of India. The made special mention of the coordiantion of the different departments most important among them being W&CD and RWSS, in implementing the health programs and combating epidemic situations, which they say are a role model for not just other districts of Orissa, but also for other states.

KASHIPUR: REHABILITATION & RESETTLEMENT ISSUES OF ADITYA ALUMINUM PROJECT

As per the direction of RDC(SD) in the RPDAC meeting on 4th November 2011, Collector Rayagada visited the Kansariguda and Podapadi villages to finalize the site for R&R (Rehabilitation & Resettlement) colony. In Kansariguda village he visited the Jhodia sahi and Sundhi sahi and interacted with the people about the finalizing of the site for R&R colony.People expressed their reluctance on various grounds to go to Podapadi site where the R&R colony, which was decided in the R&R plan. Collector Rayagada talked with people from both the communities. People from both the communities unequivocally stated that they wanted to stay together in the RR colony, as they have been staying together for centuries and it is not a fact that the people of the one community wants to stay away from the other. Collector Rayagada made it very clear and change of site for R&R colony, if at all will be within the acquired land and that there is absolutely no scope for the R&R colony to come up in any govt or private land, which is out of the acquired land.

Collector Rayagada assured the people of the Kansiriguda village that the district administration would definitely take into account their sentiments, but cannot commit on the matter of changing the R&R colony site to another place, as it requires deliberation from various side and any change in the present plan cannot be made without the concurrence of the government in revenue dept. However he assured people of coming back to the village with a final decision in this matter in the first week of December tentatively.

THE SEED THAT DIDN'T FLOWER

Rayagada is one of the few districts in Orissa where a considerable area of cultivable land is taken up for cotton cultivation. Over a period of time even tribal cultivators have taken to cotton cultivation. Gunupur sub division of Rayagada has the major share of cotton production, which makes it one of the richest RMCs( Regulated Marketing Committee) in the state.Nowadays even Rayagada sub division has seen increase in the number of farmers who have taken up cotton as a primary or secondary crop.
As a part of the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), one Pratibha syntex was to supply cotton seeds to farmers in this district. Since last two months the district administration has been receiving complaints from farmers that the seed that they bought from Pratibha Syntex did not germinate and hence it resulted in loss for them. The district administration in its grievance cell has received atleast 3 such written complaints and even otherwise a number of cases have come to notice where such problem exists.Collector Rayagada has entrusted the task of inquiring in this matter of Sri. P.C Seth, PD DRDA, Rayagada.
Cotton farming is a capital intensive task and experiences from states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh has shown that any failure in this matter could lead to serious repercussion for the farmers. The reason for loss of crop ( or failure to flower) could be attributed to number of reasons, but in this case the district administration wants to be very sure about the quality of seeds and a proper inquiry is expected in this matter.

THE 'BOATMAN' FROM RAYAGADA

Meet Sri. Satyabrata Maharana, a mechanical Engineer from Rayagada who cherished his childhood passion for making boats and now with a reinvigorated spirit restarted making Remote controlled ( RC) replica of boats. Not just ordinary ones, he goes on to make RC replica of naval vessels such as Frigates and even Sub marines, which can work under water at a depth of three meters. His work has been acknowledged all over the country and even in foreign nations. recently Mid Day, a leading English daily carried his story. Sri. Maharana is the pride of Rayagada





Given below are the story links:
http://epaper2.mid-day.com/showtext.aspx?boxid=73438668&parentid=152854&issuedate=02102011&edd123=mumbai

http://epaper2.mid-day.com/showtext.aspx?boxid=73523152&parentid=152855&issuedate=02102011&edd123=mumbai

http://epaper2.mid-day.com/showtext.aspx?boxid=73438668&parentid=152854&issuedate=02102011&edd123=mumbai

Id wishes

Best wishes for Id-Ul-Zuha!!

BLOG CROSSES 10,000 VISITOR HITS

FOSM, Rayagada would like to thank all visitors and supporters, particularly those who contributed with write ups, Photos and videos on this historic occasion when this blog crossed 10,000 hits just in a period of over one year. Keep in touch !

VIGILANCE AWARENESS WEEK FUNCTION

As per the instruction of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, the vigilance awareness week is celebrated around the country around this time of the year. The vigilance awareness meeting was today conducted in Rayagada district.
Collector Rayagada was the chief guest on this occasion. The meeting was convened by DSP Vigilance Sri. Behera with the assistance of DIPRO Rayagada, Sri. Jalandhar Pusika. All district level officers, members of the press, prominent citizens of Rayagada and some school and college students were present for the awareness meeting.
people from all walks of life present there spoke about the need to curb the growing menace of corruption.
Collector Rayagada in his address stated that the recent anti corruption movement of Anna Hazare has brought to the fore the gross resentment in the mind sof the people about the exploitation by the way of corruption. He also told that people in general should no longer be tolerant about corruption and vow to fight against it. Also the need to implement preventive vigilance by the way of pointing out procedural lapses in any process, which might lead to erroneous decision making was emphasized.
Collector Rayagada advised all government servants to be transparent in their wok and to place as much information as possible under public domain.
Lastly he told that it is his personal opinion that a bill like Jan Lokpal Bill is the is not only necessary, but also a writing on the wall. Only it should be more comprehensive and include many other sections of our society which wield immense power and are required to be checked for any corruption in them. he also stated that though it was logical to identify corruption with government functionaries and public servants, for the simple reason of the power they wield, but limiting it to just these tow categories of people would not help in achieving of a society and country , where corruption is under check.
Prizes were distributed to the winners of essay and debate competition an dthe meeting eeded with the collective oath taking by all present to fight and weed out corruption.

2nd RPDAC MEETING OF ADITYA ALUMINA PROJECT CONDUCTED

The second RPDAC (Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee) meeting of the Aditya Alumina was conducted in DRDA conference Hall Rayagada on 04.11.11. It was chaired by the Revenue Divisional Commissioner Southern Division Sri. L.N.Nayak, IAS and was attended by MP Koraput, MLA Laxmipur, DIG South western Range, Collector Koraput, SP Rayagada, along with the representative of Minister SC/ST development, authorities of Aditya Alumina, representatives of local NGOS and SHGs and representatives of displaced and project affected people of the area. Collector Rayagada is the member-convener of the meeting.
In the meeting number of issues was discussed as given below:
The land for R&R( Rehabilitation and Resettlement) colony at Kansariguda needs to be finalized, before the people of the village can be displaced. There is disagreement among the villagers about the site which has been earmarked for the R&R colony. It was given to know that the people of the locality believe that there is some kind of a bad omen with that place and want to be relocated at some other location, preferably near Singaram station or Bhalujodi. Also some people want monetary compensation in lieu of being rehabilitated in R&R colony. Collector Rayagada informed that he will be visiting the concerned village and finalizing the site for the R&R colony after a week’s time.



As a part of the Periphery development activity Adiyta Alumina had been doing some road repair work along with its sister concern Utkal alumina. However it was observed that the road work was apparently done without the explicit permission of the concerned department such as Rural development/ PWD or even the district administration. the company authorities were advised to not to take up any work on its own and in case there is a dire need and heavy demand from the people, the district administration need to be informed for an appropriate decision in this matter. Collector Rayagada requested the company authorities to provide a bus to district administration, which will operate it on the Rayagada -Kashipur route under the banner of the Regional Transport Authority, Rayagada.
There was a demand from the representatives of the displaced and the project affected people for medical services from the company's side. The CEO of Aditya Alumina informed the house that the work for 50 seated hospital in this area is in progress, after the completion of which they will be in a position to provide reasonably good health services to the people of the locality.
On the Koraput side there is a peculiar issue of people who were give land titles in 1975, but their possession was not recorded by the settlement authorities during settlement operation and as a result of which they are facing problems in getting their rightful entitlement as displaced or project affected persons. Collector Koraput was asked by RDC (SD) to look into the matter.
The issue of Modern high school was raised by the people, the land on which it stands need to be recorded in the name of the school for further development of the school.
One of the members remarked that there is lack of awareness among the local people especially the tribals about the entitlements prescribed by the R&R policy. RDC (SD) advised that there should be hoarding and flex boards in prominent location in the concerned area showing the salient features of the R&R policy, which should be easily legible and understandable to the people of the locality. Collector Rayagada and Koraput were asked to make arrangements for the same. The present RPDAC was constituted before the delimitation of the assembly constituencies, when the major area of project regarding the establishment of the industry and displacement of the people was coming under Laxmipur assembly constituency. However after the delimitation process, almost equal area comes in both Rayagada and Laxmipur assembly constituency. Hence there is some requirement for change in the constitution of the RPDAC. Also the decision to adopt the ZP zone member of Kakirigumma was approved in this meeting.
There was a demand from the representatives of the displaced and project affected people for the inclusion of some more members in the RPADC. RDC (SD) advised that he additional members be invited as special invitees as inclusion of more members requires approval of the government and is a time taking process.
After the meeting the RDC (SD) met the delegations of people from the project area and heard their grievances and assured prompt action on their issues.

( Photos courtesy,Sri. Nagaraju Bhallamudi, Enadu)

SOCIO ECONOMIC & CASTE CENSUS TRAINING IN RAYAGADA

TRAINING PROGRAM OF OFFICIALS ON SOCIO ECONOMIC & CASTE CENSUS

A two day training program for Socio Economic and Caste Census was concluded in DRDA conference hall Rayagada today. The SECC will be paperless and will be conducted with the tablet PC developed by Bharat Electricals limited BEL, which runs on Android 2.2 OS. The census software is preloaded and the DEO has to simply click on the relevant tabs after enumerating a particular household. 1906 of such tablet units will be utilized in Rayagada district.

TABLET PC DEVELOPED BY BEL

Past experiences have shown that there has been massive errors in emumeration of people for what was earlier known as BPL survey. With the use of IT solutions, lot of discretion on the part of the enumerators to manipulate the census/ survey data has been effectively checked.
The SECC is to be kick started by mid November. Hence the training of BDOs/ Tahsildars/ Executive officers of ULBs was taken up by a team from govt of Orissa in Panchayat Raj dept.

KICK STARTING JANAI SHISHU SURAKSHA YOJANA IN RAYAGADA

ROAD DEVELOPMENT IN RAYAGADA: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

The road condition and overall connectivity in the southern part of Orissa some years back happened to be the worse in the country. But things are changing at a rapid pace and all efforts are being made by to improve the road connectivity in these parts, with works more than 300 crore in this district in major rodas such as SH 4, SH 5 and SH 43. All these projects when completed will surely change the face of the district.

The work on SH 4 is done under the Vijaywada Ranchi corridor project, which also involves the 4 laning of the Rayagada town portion. The four laning part of the VRC project has proved to be the most challenging. the town portion was 3.5 meters laid long back. The problematic part is that most of the other utilities such as PHD water pipe line, electric poles and lines, telephones lines, etc were laid acoordingly and now when the town road portion is widened to four lane, whcih comes to 16 meters, all these utilities have to be realigned. Also there is this issue of cutting and trimming of trees for road widening.

In developmet parlance it is said that there is hardly any work which doesn't require some kind of coordination between different departments and a work like widening of the road requires lot of coordination between different departments for which the role of an authority like the District Magistrate becomes very important. So, Collector & DM, Rayagada along with EE PWD, EE SOUTHCO, EE GED, AE PHD and number of other functionaries reviwed the progress f road works and conducted field visits on VRC project road.

Progress of this portion had been suffering beacuse of slow progress regarding shifting of electrical poles and wires and from PHD side regarding shifting of water pipe lines which after the widening of the road happen to fall right at he middle of the road now.

It was only after the intervention of the district administration, the dispute between the PWD and SOUTHCO regarding shifting of electrical lines was solved and the process of shifting of electrical poles started in mid of this year. However after initial progress, again the work was stopped to be resumed recently.

In case of PHD there was no money to shift the pipe line and with the efforts of the district administration a proposal have been sent to govt for approval which is likely to be done within a short period now.

Today a meeting of all these agencies involved in the road widening and activities related to it, such as PWD, SOUTHCO, PHD, RWSS was called by the Collector Rayagada to sort out the issues. Also the team visited the town portion of the Vijaywada Ranchi corridor and saw on the field the things that are required to be done. Collector Rayagada has instructed for the expeditious completion of the work of pole and pipe line shifting, along with the cutting and trimming of trees. The progress will be monitored on daily basis.

PORTION OF THE KEREDA ROAD ON 12 DECEMBER 2010

The work on Kereda road which is the link to Andhra pradesh had been started and a major portion of it is completed till date. there has been a seas change from the condition that was there a year back ( as can be made out from the picture above) and a now ( pic of the same stretch given below). It is pertinent to mention that the Kereda road is only an MDR ( Major District Road) and not even a state highway. But taking into account its importance from connectivity and economic point of view, the district administration had to intervene and get the work done from PWD. Before the road work the journey of 22 Kms from the Kereda check gate on the Andhra Orissa border to Rayagda town was taking one and a half hour, now the same journey can be completed in less than 30 minutes.

THE PORTION OF KEREDA ROAD AROUND THE SAME STRETCH (OPPOSITE SIDE VIEW) AS THE PIC ABOVE ON 30 SEP 2011

IDEETAAL PAINTING

SIGNS OF DROUGHT LIKE SITUATION IN RAYAGADA DISTRICT.

This year because of late and less than average rainfall, there seems to be a drought like situation in the district. Almost daily group of farmers are seen meeting the district administration with the samples of the damaged crop. This year because of the less rain the yield is expected to be low.

However during this year as much as 6 crore worth of check dam projects have been executed in this district under the Integrated Action Plan alone. Moreover lot of work has been done by depts. such as Blocks ( By the way fo MO Pokaghri under NREGS) Minor irrigation and Orissa lift irrigation corporation. These sources if utilized properly will come in handy in atleast partly tackling the drought like situation.

Collector Rayagada in a letter to all BDOS, Executive Engineer MI Division rayagada, ASCO-cum-PD-watershed and OLIC has instructed that all these irrigation sources be made good use of after taking into account the ground situation.

Nothing can be worse that having water in reservoirs and channels, but farmers are deprived of the same.

The letter of Collector Rayagada comes at a time when there have been several complaints received by the district administration, particularly from Padampur and Gunupur area, that water is not being released to the farmers from the Badanala project, the only medium irrigation project in the district.

PUBLIC HEARING OF RSB METALTECH VANDALIZED

The public hearing of the RSB Metaltech in the Kalyansingpur block was vandalized by some people today. A group of about 50-60 people shouting slogans against the company came to protest at the place where the public hearing was to be held for the environmental clearance as mandated by the State pollution control board.

The matter took a turn for worse, when some agitators took to the podium to stop the public hearing. Within a short ime the entire 'Pandal" was vandalized and the stage was broken to pieces. ADM Rayagada, who was nominated by the district administration to conduct the public hearing, had to leave the places , along with BDO and Tahsildar Kalyansinghpur, i the face of stiff violent resistance from the agitators. It is widely believed that there was active involvement of outsiders ( i.e. people not belonging to those Panchayats) in this act of lawlessness.

Collector Rayagada, speaking to FOSM stated that, 'the public hearing is a legal perquisite for setting up any industrial unit in the district and it is the duty of the district administration to create an atmosphere where any individual is feels free to express his opinion in the public hearing. The act of those involved in such violent activity is against the spirit of freedom of expression. Those who have any grievance against the setting up of an industrial unit have all the right to express their opinion in this matter. The protesters could have very well used the public hearing forum to register their protest'.

However instead the agitators chose to trample the rights of others by not allowing the public hearing to be conducted and thereby depriving the local people of their constitutional right to express their minds. The unconstitutional behaviour of the agitators goes to prove their vested interests in obstructing a constitutional process and their apathy for development in the area.

ADM Rayagada will submit a report on the incident to Collector Rayagada. The district adminstration will give its finding to the Superintendent of the Police for necessary action in this matter.

DEEPAWALI WISHES

Free and Open Source Media ( FOSM) Rayagada wishes all viewers and supporters a very happy and prosperous Diwali !

POLICY ON PLANTATIONS NEED OF THE HOUR: BY MR. M C GOEL, EXECUTVE VP ( WORKS) JK PAPERMILL

COMMUNITY KITCHEN PROGRAM: REPORT OF RAYAGADA DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION

CHILDLINE SUPPORT IN RAYAGADA. TOLL FREE NO. 1098

CHAITI MAHOTSAV MEETING HELD

The cultural festival of Rayagada district, named Chaiti Utsav or Chaiti Parab, will be held from 25-27 November 2011. The districts of undivided Koraput are known for their annual cultural festivals. These festivals have come a long way since the inception of 'Dongar' festival in Koraput in the early 90s. These festivals serves to not only highlight the rich cultural heritage of these districts, but also act as medium of cultural exchange, with number of troupes from different districts of Odisha and also from other states of the country.

'Chaiti festiva'l was organised every year but for some reason it was discontinued in between for almost 5 years. In 2009, the then Collector of Rayagada, Sri. Krishna Gopal Mahapatra revived the tradition and it was thereafter celebrated with great enthusiasm last year.

Last year the festival was kick started from the religious location of Devagiri, a temple in the natural cave formation in a hillock in Kalyansinghpur block. This year it is proposed to be inaugurated from the ancient Siva mandir site of Paikapada. This temple of about 1000 years old and it an important landmark in the history of this district.





ANCIENT SIVA MANDIR IN PAIKAPADA, RAYAGADA DISTRICT, ORISSA

The theme of the cultural festival this year is going to be 'conservation of environment'. The East Zone Cultural Council has been requested to send some troupes for this festival. Eminent groups and artists from all over the country are likely to perform in this festival.

The uniqueness of this year is that three districts os the erstwhile undivided Koraput i.e, Rayagada. Koraput and Malkangiri will be jointly celebrating their cultural festival in sequence, i.e, Koraput from 16-19, Malkangiri from 21-23 and Rayagada from 25-27 November 2011. This will not only help augment the resources, but also will help in getting quality troupes and artists. also for the performing troupes it will be convenient and also economical.

PLACE OF POSTING FOR NEWLY RECRUITED JR. CLERKS