DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION SEIZES MORE THAN 9000 BAGS OF FERTILIZERS

Rayagada district administration seized a huge stock of fertilizers belonging to the IPL company. This interesting part is that this stock was stacked in the building meant to used as the Office of Chief District Medical Officer and Drug ware house for the district. More than 9000 bags of fertilizers of the MOP variety and Urea was found inside the premises.
Acting on a tip off from local reliable sources, Collector Rayagada personally went to the spot and after breaking open the gate of the structure, which is now in the custody of the PWD authorities found the huge stock.

The officers from district Agriculture Office, Tahsildar and police persons conducted detailed search and mad a seizure of more than 9000 bags. Collector Rayagada said that since this stock was illegally stored in the building and the fact that there was criminal trespass and malafide in this entire act of storing the fertilizers commodity in a building meant for Health dept, there are all reasons to presume that the stock was meant to be disposed in black market and hence the same has been confiscated to the state under the Fertilizers control act.
After confiscation , the next step district administration intends to take i s to sell the same to the needy farmers at the government approved rate. At times farmers are compelled buy the fertilizers at double the price and this step of the district administration is will act as a great relief to the farmers in this time when agriculture operations are in full swing.

SPURIOUS PACKAGED WATER PLANTS RAIDED AND SEALED

Rayagada district administration conducted multiple and simaultaneous raids yeaterday on the water bottling plants in the district, especially in Rayagada and Gunupur towns. The findings were shocking. Of the 6 plants raided, three did not have valid licenses and were flouting all norms, besides packing water in the most unhygenic conditions. In one unit named Shekar Aqua, it was seen that the water was probably filled in the cheap plastic bottles from the tap itself and then sealed and labelled in a crude method. Thus maximimisng the profitmargin to as much as a thousand percent.
Packaged water is a very lucarative industry and day in and day out it is seen that number of new bottling and packaging units are set up. The ignorant masses of the interior areas and the capactive customers such as in trains are the target group for such companies, who sell such spurious packaged water bottles for as high as Rs.15. This type of adulteration of water is an invitation to water borne diseases and as a part of preparation for the coming epidemic season, the district administration has conducted such raids, Collector Rayagada said.
He also said that the district administration had been gathering intelligence about such spurious activities and conducted simultaneous raids in many places. In Rayagada town nd nearby areas uh as JKpur, the raids were lead by Collector himself and in Gunupur, Sub Collector Jayakumar Venkat carried these raids.
The stock has been siezed and kept in the town Police station. The illegal units have been sealed and the concerned authorities fon Health dept and Municipality have been pressed into action.

DIARRHEA CONTROL STEPS IN FULL SWING

Rayagada district administration has geared up for the prevention and control of probable outbreak of diarrheal diseases and such epidemics in the district. The district has a history of epidemics in the past and has been for this reason focus of  attention of the State;s health dept.
Last year Rayagada district had controlled this menace and there was no epidemic inspite of having minor outbreaks in some part of the district.
The district has prepared an action plan based on previous years experiences and comprises of three stages.
The first one that of mass sensitization and filed mobilization, along with efforts to ensure dafe drinking water to the people. In this stage a network of nodal officers is devised, which has the responsibility of scanning the entire area for probable cases and relaying information to the authorities and also to help in the relief measures. Also massive sensitization campaign in the form of Swasthya Samavesh ( Health awareness camps), use of audio visual materials such as posters, banners and TV shoes , especially at local market places to sensitize people about the gneiss and diarrheal diseases, its prevention and treatment. Besides this year various local artists groups have been engaged to state street plays conveying the message for prevention an treatment of diarrheal diseases.

The second stage which coincides with the end July and August months when as per the previous experiences, the frequency of cases of diarrhea diseases increase and chances of it being converted int epidemic are very high. This is a critical stage and requires tremendous efforts to control.
The third stage is that of a probable scenario of a major outbreak and epidemic, which the district administration aims to not to reach. This stage requires massive mobilization of human and material resources and is a round the clock fight to contain the epidemic.
The key to success lies in working hard in the first two stages and avoiding the third stage thereby.
This is a very uphill task, where the district administration has to fight not only the impediments and limitations imposed by nature in the form of extremely difficult terrain and communication problems, but also the socio cultural traits like poor health seeking behavior, extremely poor individual and community hygiene and popular superstitions. The district administration has requested the cooperation for all individuals and organization for this. Collector Rayagada has said that the district has zero tolerance for such outbreaks and consequent deaths and that it aims to break the equation of 'Diarhheal diseases with Kashipur' area, by carrying out casualty free epidemic seasons in the years to come.

RAYAGADA DISTRICT BANS THE MOVEMENT OF MINOR MINERALS OUTSIDE THE STATE

Rayagada district administration has virtually banned the movement of minor minerals like sand, stones chips and like from being transported outside the state of Odisha.

 In a letter issued to Revenue and Police authorities in the district and even to Collectors and Superintendents of adjoining districts of the state of Andhra Pradesh such as Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Vishakapatnam, Collector Rayagada has reiterated the already laid out principle, that the movement of minor minerals is being governed by the Orissa Minor Minerals Concession rules, 2004 and the 'R" form issued for the purpose of transporting the minor minerals is as per these rules, which have validity only in the state of Odisha and hence it is illegal to transport such minor minerals outside the state of Odisha on the basis of such 'R' form, which is basically a transit pass.

Accordingly the Commercial taxes officer has been told to detain such vehicle carrying minor minerals at the border check gates. Recently due to the court order in Andhra Pradesh a ban has been imposed on excavation of sand from any waterbody, expect the river Godavari in the Northern coastal Andhra, which has created acute shortage of sand in that region. For this reason the sand from the neighboring districts of the state of Odisha is in great demand there, which has lead to an unprecedented situation, wherein minor minerals in large quantities are being transported outside the state, which has lead not only to acute shortage in the state's districts, but sharp increase in the price in the district.

This decision of the district administration is bound to evoke reactions from the traders in minor minerals.

RANK WISE LIST OF RI/ARI/ AMIN EXAM

SELECTION LIST FOR THE POST OF ARI/ AMIN

Note: This is electronic information. candidates are advised to corroborate the same with the office of the Collector & District Magistrate, Rayagada

SELECTION LIST FOR THE POST OF REVENUE INSPECTOR

NOTICE FOR WRITTEN TEST & COMPUTER PRATICAL TEST FOR POSTS OF 'RI, ARI & AMIN' :-

The details of the ground situation and the effort sof the district administration is given above.

RALLY TO PROTEST THE ASSAULT ON SUB REGISTRAR & COLLECTOR SAMBALPUR

In  that shocking incident, as per the report of eyewitnesses and reliable sources a group of advocates went to the office of the Sub Registrar to protest against the hike in the registration fees. They insisted that since they have obtained a status qou order from the Hon'ble High court, the registration should be done in the pre revised rates. When Mr. Dehury insisted on a written communication from the high court, the lawyers argued with him and as tempers went high, abused and physically assaulted him. The Sub Registrar was beaten black and blue and he sustained grievous injuries on his person.When the Collector Sambalpur came to know of the incident, she rushed to the spot. Meanwhile the advocates had boarded a bus to Burla to protest in front of the WESCO authorities against the frequent power cuts. At that moment Collector Sambalpur went inside the bus and asked the lawyers the reason for their unruly behaviour and the criminal attack on the sub registrar. This was taken as a provocation by the lawyers, who not only abused her, but as the complaint of Mrs. Darswal goes also tried to outrage her modesty. As if that was not enough, the lawyers followed Collector Sambalpur, where ever she went, threw stones at her vehicle and in a planned move, forcibly entered her residence and vandalized the furniture, important files, the official vehicle in the residence. Not even for a moment did they think that, a lady officer stays there with her two small kids.

The government employees, members of the civil society and intellectuals of Rayagada today carried out a peaceful rally today protesting against the assault on Sri. Dehury, Sub Registrar Sambalpur and Smt. Mrilalini Darswal, IAS Collector & District Magistrate, Sambalpur. The rally was led by Collector Rayagada. Most of those present in the rally wore black badges as a mark of protest. rally started from Ambedkar Chowk and culminated in the Ma Majhi Ghariani Temple. There were no slogans raised in the rally. All present in the rally unequivocally condemned the high handedness of the advocates, who crossed all limits of responsible behaviour when the manhandled and badly injured the Sub registrar and what can be described as epitome of contempt for democratic ethos and rule of law, barged inside the residence of Collector Sambalpur, where the lady officer stays with there two small kids and damaged property including the vehicle, furniture and some important files in the camp office of Collector Sambalpur.

 This incident has evoked strong reactions throughout the country and the shameful acts of lawyers has been condemned by people all over the country. The govt employees of Rayagada district demanded a strong action against the criminals. The OAS association in Rayagada held an emergency meeting today and passed a resolution condemning the shameful lawless behaviour of the advocates and submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Odisha demanding a strong exemplary action against the culprits.

 People from all walks of life have condemned this incident, in which the advocates have sent down the drain the reputation of what is considered one of the most reputed professions. Those who are supposed to work for the rule of law, behaved like hooligans and anti socials. One of the senior Gandhian in Rayagada said that the activities of the vandals would put to shame even the most shameless of the criminals. Some of the Gandhians have resolved to carry out a peaceful movement in front of Gandhi statue in Gandhi park, Rayagada to protest against the growing violence in public life in the country, particularly against the incidents of kidnapping which the extremists have indulged in recent times.

 Collector Rayagada afer the rally said that there is no point pointing fingers at any particular the image profession. This incident should be looked as a handiwork of some anti social elements and condemned accordingly and that if highly educated and well meaning people like advocates behave like this, it is setting a very bad example for people in general.He also told that when people expect a clean, responsive and corruption free governance, people should also improve their thinking and public behaviour.

OGIP CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER PILOT IN RAYAGADA

NOTICE FOR 'PHYSICAL TEST' FOR POSTS OF RI,ARI & AMIN :-

VALID CANDIDATES LIST OF RI,ARI & AMIN:-

 
REJECTED LIST OF RI:-

RECJECTED LIST OF ARI & AMIN:-

FOREIGN TOURIST PROFORMA FOR VISITING PVTG AREA:

DOWN LOAD-> Right Click -> Save as -> Local Desktop -> Take Print Out.

CLARIFICATION ON ENTRY & MOVEMENT OF FOREIGN NATIONALS IN RAYAGADA

RAYAGADA DISTRICT SELECTED FOR 'PAPERLESS OFFICE' PILOT PROJECT

Rayagada district has been selected for the pilot project for 'Paperless Office'. This is another feather in the cap of the district administration in matters of e-governance, after Implementation of the Biometric based Targeted PDS project in the district. The district has attained a reputation for being selected as a pilot district for a number of programs, even for those not linked to e-governance.

Aa apart of this initiative, a team from Bhubaneshwar, visited the district and in the presence of Collector Rayagada, conducted a meeting with the Deputy Collectors and dealing assistants of different sections of Collectorate, explaining them the concept of Paperless Office and the necessary changes that would be required to make this program a success.

The concept of Paperless Office involves conduci=ting the business of a particular office with the help of computers. Entire file work, including the note part and the correspondence part are done on the computer. Its basically the same system, which instead of doing on paper, is done on a computer.

Collector Rayagada informed that the district had taken several e-governance initiatives on its own, such as the file and letter tracking system and now this project seemed to be a god sent and that the district is fully prepared to implement this project, now that the support from the state is coming.

The team from Bhubaneshwar will assess the requirement of the Collectorate by studying all the sections for seven days and then working out a required plan for that.

CIVIC ACTION PROGRAM CRPF 4TH BN, RAYAGADA

SUSPENSION BRIDGE IN RAYAGADA OPEN FOR PUBLIC

The much awaited opening ceremony of the foot suspension bridge in Rayagada was organized on 26th March 2012. The bridge has become a centre of attraction for the people of Rayagada and daily thousands of visitors flock to this place in the evening to enjoy the marvel of engineering in their district.

The bridge was formally dedicated to the people by Sri. Girish Bharadwaj, the bridge man of India. He has built more than 100 such bridges in South India, especially in his home state of Karnataka. He is the inspiration behind this bridge and has shared his technical expertise for this bridge free of cost.

Sri Bharadwaj, runs the Bharat Grama Sethu Pratishthana, a trust which believes in the using engineering skills for social causes. It aims at providing rural connectivity n a cost effective nad innovative way through foot suspension bridges. This trust has shown a new system of execution of public works, within and also outside the government system. Mr. Bharadwaj calls this need based connectivity.

Suspension bridges rarely figure in the government scheme of things. If at all it is only in the mega structure level. In the state of Orissa though, there exists a suspension bridge in Dhabaleshwar in the Cuttack district, suspension bridges are not in the schedule of the Works dept. This makes the achievement of the district IAP team a special one, as they achieved a feat of which there was no precedent in the state, as the earlier bridge was designed and executed by a Kolkata based agency.

Collector Rayagada said that though the district IAP team had decided for a suspension bridge over the river Nagavalli at the place called Chekaguda, it struggled for months together to find execution support and in thisphase all they could get was discouragement, as no dept was willing ot risk a project of which they had no experience. The district administration was left in lurch and but did not give up, as it very well knew the importance of this connectivity, that it was to connect 200 villages to the district HQ. When there was very little hope left, light came in form of Mr. Girish Bhartadwaj, who willing took the challenge, when most declined.

The cooperation of the Police Housing board, especially its MD. Sri. Sudhanshu Sarangi, IPS is also valuable, as they helped in floating the tender, when no dept came forward.

The most valuable of all is the spirit and enthusiasm of two young entrepreneurs of Rayagada. Sri. Ravi Prasad Dora and Sri. Narin Kumandan. their participation in this project was to be the most critical part. These two gentleman who the Collector and SP call as them the part of the 'dream team' took up the most important challenge, that of execution of the project.

This project will act as a prototype for such connectivity in other districts of the state and its a great joy to dedicate this to the people of the district Collector Rayagada said.

BAN ON MOVEMENT OF FOREIGN NATIONALS IN RAYAGADA PVTG AREAS

The district administration in its letter to all tour operators has said that in the light of the recent unfortunate events of abduction of foreign nationals in the state and after having taken all the factors relating to the security of foreign nationals into consideration, the district administration consciously decides to stop all movement of foreign nationals and tourists in the district's PVTG areas for an indefinite period of time. It further says that the district administration needs to reassess the security situation and that it will take a call on this issue of regulating the movement of foreign nationals and tourists in the district either way. Till that time no permission will be issued to foreign nationals and tourists to visit any part of the district.

This move is likely to hurt the tourism industry in the state, which is already in trouble because of the recent introduction of ban on photography in the PVTG areas of the state. There has been reaction from the tourism industry about this photography ban and a demand for relaxation of norms especially relating to photography as tourist are bound to carry camera to preserve the memories of their visits, say tourism experts.

The district administration however informed that this is a temporary measure and that the security of the foreign guests and other tourists is of paramount importance and any inconvenience that will be caused by this decision of the district administration is a small price to pay, than what could otherwise happen. It has also promised to get back the tourism activity on track as soon as possible in the district.

WORLD TB DAY IN RAYAGADA

MLA LAXMIPUR KIDNAPPED BY MAOISTS

As if it wasn’t enough for the state govt in the recent kidnapping of the Italian tourists by the naxals, another incident within a weeks time happened in the Koraput district of Odisha, in which a sitting popular MLA was abducted by armed naxals near Toyaput, near Laxmipur in Koraput district.
Mr. Jhina Hikaka, a young and popular MLA, representing the Laxmipur constituency in the Koraput district was elected on a BJD ticket in 2009. He was a govt servant before joining politics and had worked as an extension officer in the Laxmipur Block of Koraput district. He happens to be on eof the youngest MLAs in Odisha, just in his thirties.
These series of abductions in period of a week has raised questions about the over all handling of the naxal problem by the state government and an environment of fear seems to have been cast in the locality.
Laxmipur which is just 45 kms away from Rayagada district HQ is closely linked to this district and just before the 2008 delimitation a major part of Rayagada district was coming in the Laxmipur constituency.
There is lot of resentment in the locality because of this abduction of a popular leader and massive spontaneous protests are seen all over. Politicians, intellectuals and member so f the civil society, including journalists are planning massive protests against this action of maoists and demanding the safe an early release of all the hostages, including the italian nationals in Kandhamal.

DISTRICT LEVEL ASHA CONVENTION RAYAGDA

District level ASHA convention was held today in Ashok Mandap in Rayagada tgoday. The convention was inaugurated by Collector Rayagada.
Acreidted Social Health Activist (ASHA) is recent addition in the Health administration at the grass root level. This is a level below the ANM and the work is very similar to Health Worker. The difference is only that of the area. The Health worker is posted at the sub centre level and has a cluster of villages as his area of work. The ASHA worker has an individual village as her area of work, which is similar to the anganwadi Worker in terms of area and status. There 1827 ASHA workers in Rayagada district.
ASHA workers have a very important role to play in the implentation of different schmes and programmes of the health dept. Besides they play a vital role in keeping an eye over the overall health situation in tier espective areas, particullarly during the outbreak of epidemics and also play a crucial role in mamagement of epidemic situation and special programs such as mass immunization.
In today's function, Collector Rayagada felicitated 11 ASHA workers for meritorius service. He told that they are the eyes and ears of the health dept and being from the local community they enjoy the trust of the local people and hence the district administration has very high hopes from them and that they will surely live upto the expectations as they have done in the paSt.

PROTEST AGAINST THE ABDUCTION OF ITALIAN TOURISTS BY NAXALS

Rayagada civil scoiety today carried a peace march in protest of the recent qbduction of two Italian nationals. The rally started from the Ambedkar chowk in the heart of Rayagada town and culminated in the Jagannath Mandir.
About a thousand persons from all walks of life had joined the rally demanding the early release of the kidnapped tourists. They grossly condemned the abduction act of the Left wing Extremists which has tarnished the image of not only the state,but also the entire country. They also said that there is no reason why some forign nationals whi have nothing tp do with the politics of the country be made to suffer like this.
Jayaram Jena of the Seva Samaj, a social orgnization who organized the members and intellectuals of Rayagada of the civil society for the rally said that their organization believes in Gandhian principles and they condemn such violent abduction of forign nationals and appealed to the public sirited citizens to come forward to condemn such acys and demand the early and safe release of the tourists.

ASSOCIATED PRESS COVERING THE BIOMETRIC BASED TPDS PROJECT

A team from the Associated Press, an American news agency popularly known as AP, is in Rayagada to cover the Biometric based Targeted Public Distribution System. The team headed by its South Asia Bureau chief, Mr. Ravi Nessman and photgraphers Mr. Shonal Ganguly and Mr. Manish visited different fair price shops in the Rayagada town and the rural areas and filmed the functioning of the BTPDS.

The Biometric based targeted Public Distribution System is implemented in different ways in Urban and Rural areas in the Rayagada district, which is the pilot district for this project.

In Urban areas ( Rayagada town as of now) it is smart card based and the transaction is done with the help of Biometric enabled Point of Sale (PoS) device. The transaction gets over in matter of seconds and a fool proof public distribution is ensured.In rural areas however because of practical difficulties, a system of bar coded cards and coupons is in place. The former system is undoubtedly much more superior and easy to use than the latter, but given the issues with electricity and other infrastructure, it was felt wise to limit the former system to Rayagada Municipality area and gradually extend it to other areas.

The team will stay in Rayagada and cover various dimensions of this project and its impact in the matter of providing food security to the people in this areas.

SUB COLLECTOR RAYAGADA UNEARTHS MAJOR FAKE ID RACKET

Pramod Mishra, Sub Collector Rayagada has unearthed a major fake identity cards racket in Rayagada town today.

The sequence of events is as follows:

A beneficiary of a social welfare scheme had filed an application in the office of Sub Collector Rayagada. There was a requirement of identity card and what was produced by the applicant led to unearthing of big fake identity card racket. The applicant produced an identity a  Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) which was manipulated with a photo editing software. The card looked fake at the face of it. The Sub Collector Rayagada very cleverly got the details of the place and persons from where the applicant obtained the card and the revelations led to the chain of persons invovled in this, which finally led to a photo studio in front of the State Bank of India, Rayagada branch.

Sub Collector Rayagada along with Durga Charan Mahapatra, Tahsildar Rayagada and force from the local police station led by Parul Gupta, IPS ( UT) and IIC town police station, raided the photo studio and what came out of the bag was a very big and systematic set up of forging ID cards, including the EPIC cards and even that of Police and other security establishments.

There were 4 computers that were put to use for forging the IDs and hundreds of fake ID cards, majority of them being EPIC cards. The most disturbing finding was that there were fake cards of Police dept and other security agencies like CISF, CRPF and like, which can be a big national security issue in a naxal affected district like Rayagada. The four computers that were found in the premisis were loaded with apparently thousands of  soft copies of such fake cards. Besides a register was found in which entries of the fake cards 'issued' by the photo studio were noted down.

The photo studio owner is said be in Berhampur now and police authorities are tracing him down. Collector Rayagada, Dr. Nitin.B. Jawale visited the spot and appreciated the worj done by the Sub Collector and Police authorities. talking to media persons he said that strongest possible case will be made against these counterfeiters and even provisions related to national security will be invoked against these offenders

NADRS TRAINING OF VETERINARY DOCTORS & STAFF OF RAYAGADA DIST.

ENGINEERING & EMOTIONS MAKE AN IMPOSSIBLE BRIDGE DREAM COME TRUE

BRAND NEW STATE OF THE ART SUSPENSION BRIDGE, CHEKAGUDA, RAYAGADA, ODISHA

Rayagada district, which was a part of undivided and in the KBK zone of Orissa, is dominated by tribal communities residing in the hilly and extremely difficult terrain which dominates the landscape of the district. Most of the habitations are located in the valleys of the mountainous sections of the Eastern ghats, which makes these parts one of the most inaccessible in the country. Lot has been done in previous years to provide connectivity to such areas, but still a lot remains to be done.
The district administration during the last outbreak of epidemic diarrhea encountered lot of problems in negotiating the numerous rivulets to reach villages with diarrhea cases.


THE DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION IDENTIFIED SUCH RIVULETS FOR RURAL CONNECTIVITY


At that point itself the idea of having low cost connectivity which can be provided in a shorter span of time was mooted. Fortunately just after that Govt of India came up with the scheme of Integrated Action Plan for the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) districts, in which a district level committee consisting if the Collector, Superintendent of Police and the DFO, is being provided funds to indentify and fill up critical developmental gaps in the naxal affected districts. The district committee wasted no time in finalizing the type of connectivity projects. Since the interior areas of the district are such that a large number of sparsely populated habitations are scattered on either sides of the rivulets with fast flowing water, it was neither feasible nor economical to plan a regular bridge or even a culvert in all locations which required connectivity. The need was that of something that would not be required to be constructed in the fast flowing waters and would also be economical and fastly built. After deliberating over a number of designs, the concept of prefabricated bridges was unanimously decided to be ideal for the disrict as it is economical and time saving.
The first place where such bridge as to be built was identified ata pplace on the Nagavalli reiver, connecting 9 GPs on the other side of the river to the district Headquarter. For this place a foot suspension bridge was planned. The biggest challenge however was to find an executing agency, as there is only one suspension bridge in the state of Orissa at Dhabaleshwar, in Cuttack district, which was built by the Works dept of Government of Odisha in 2004. There was no precedent of this kind of a bridge being built by the district administration in the state of Odisha, at least.


THE OLD BAMBOO BRIDGE BUILT BY THE VILLAGERS THEMSELVES

After two months of frantic search for support for execution, all that the district administration got was discouragement for what was certified by many as an over ambitious project of an unrealistic trio of officers. Luck showered it blessings by the way of a contact given Mr. Hegde, a CRPF officer posted in Rayagada. The contact was that of ‘Girish Bhardwaj’, an engineer who has built more than 100 suspension bridges in South India, particularly in his home state of Karnataka. Collector Rayagada spoke to Mr. Bhardwaj and explained about the plan of rural connectivity for the district. Collector Rayagada told that. he had very little hope about a positive response from Mr. Bharadwaj, given his great reputation and the fact that he had as many as 10 bridge projects in hand at that moment. One fine day SP Rayagada informed that Mr. Bharadwaj has expressed his willingness to come to Rayagada and that upon seeing the site and discussion with the district administration, he will decide about the project.
On arrival to Rayagada Mr. Girish Bharadwaj was shown the site and was explained about the vision behind this project. He on his part gave a presentation about the bridges which he had built, (the number nearing 100) and informed that he has dedicated his life for providing rural connectivity to rural areas through his organization, Bharat Grama Sethu Pratisthana. It was a marriage of visions and as Collector Rayagada puts it, ' it seemed like a divine intervention'.
The district administration also intended to build capacity within the district, so that many such projects in the future could be executed by the executants within the district and hence two young entrepreneurs from Rayagada, Sri. Ravi Prasad Dora and Sri. Narin Kumandan, were persuaded by the district administration, especially SP Rayagada to participate in the execution of the project. The enthusiasm and dedication shown by these two young people was to prove to be the most crucial factor in the successful completion of the project, other than the sharing of the technology and execution support by Sri. Girish Bharadwaj.

The work was assigned to the Police Housing corporation by the district administration, which worked out the project cost to 1.19 crore for the 152 meter long foot suspension bridge in the early 2011.Even though the work was entrusted to Orissa Police Housing Corporation, with the aim of expediting the work, it took more than 3 months to just float the tender and further 3 to 4 months to allot the work order. Only in the end of November the formalities could be completed and ground breaking for the work was done on 8th December 2011.
After the ground breaking the work of fabrication of the metal components of the bridge was also taken simultaneously. The skilled workers of Mr. Bharadwaj, who have an experience of more than 100 bridges with them, worked overtime to bring to the bridge to its completion within a period of three months. The pictographical depiction is given in the slide show below.



The vision of the district administration, as said earlier is to make many such bridges, at a low cost and in a shorter span of time. With the completion of this bridge, the district administration has not only got the necessary confidence and motivation, but also the necessary capacity to take up such work in the interior areas.

This project is not only a story of the execution of an engineering marvel, but also one in which the determination of the district administration was tested to its limit. This is a befitting redemption of the trust reposed by the government on its premier services and also an example to show that when the govt reposes its trust in its services and gives the necessary freedom and flexibility with the funds, it can work out wonders.

VISIT OF SRI. T.S RANDHWA TO RAYAGADA

SRI. T S Randhawa IAS GJ:1979 Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor to the Department of Food and Public Distribution, Ministry of Consumer Affairs & Food and Public Distribution visited Rayagada district on 24.02.12, as a part of his visit to the districts of South Odisha. After discussion with the Collector and other officials of the civil supplies department and the officials of FCI, he saw the much appreciated Biometric based Targeted Public Distribution project ( BTPDS) in the Rayagada district. He was particularly happy about the fast working of the smart cars operated Point of sale ( PoS) device. He remarked that the system is much better than what is being run in places like Chandigarh and Haryana.
Collector Rayagada explained him about the need to have two different Biometric based systems of Public distribution, I.e the smart card based for Urban areas and the bar coded cards and coupons, for practical reasons such as connectivity and availability of electricity. However the system of bar coded coupons and cards is also a very workable one and has gone a long way in ensuring food security to the needy and checking pilferage of essential commodities.

3 TIER GP ELECTION PREPARATORY MEETING

A preparatory meeting was called by the district administration today to oversee the preparation for the coming 3 tier GP elections. All BDOs, Tahsildars and IsIC of police stations attended the meeting, wherein Collector Rayagada appraised them of the overall planning. SP Rayagada briefed about the deployment of the forces and overall security situation.



Inputs were taken from the BDOs, Tahsildars and IsIC about the field level issues. The concept of Coordination nodes was explained to them, which will act as communication centres for relaying to and fro information and management of logistics and special measures in case of any eventuality.

COLLECTOR RAYAGADA'S VISIT TO RAGHUBARI AND DIMIRIGUDA

REPUBLIC DAY CELEBRATIONS 2012

OFSDP ANNUAL REVIEW MEETING

OFSDP ( Orissa Forestry Sector Development Project) annual review was held in Hotel Sai International in Rayagada today. Collector Rayagada in capacity of the Chairman District Advisory Committee presided over the meeting. Sri. Bakhla, IFS, Regional Chief Conservator of Forests, Koraput also attended the meeting along with DFO Rayagada, senior district level officials of other departments and field level forest officers. Members of the village Vana Suraksha Samiti from different areas were also present.

RCCF Koraput in his inaugral address explained the objectives and different initiatives of the OFSDF project. Collector Rayagada said that the forests are like a hen that gives golden eggs and we have to be patient and sensible in consuming the fruits of nature. Indiscriminnate felling of trees by forest mafias for timber and by local communities for shifting cultivation is rapidly depleteing the forest cover and has brought us to a situation, where the very existence of tribal communities is at stake. Due to incresed population and changing lifestyle there is lot of pressure on forests and has also led to man anoimal conflict in many areas. To mitigate this sitaution projects like OFSDP come handy, wherein there are two aspects, one that of conservation and sustainable use of forest resources and creating livelihood opportunities.

FAILURE OF ELECTION: COLLECTOR WRITES TO SEC REGARDING NOMINATION

Even after the second chance for nominations, no nominations were filed filed in all but one GP in Kashipur for the post of Sarpanch and PS member. Also all the nominations filed earlier were withdrawn and it brought a situation where no all the three ZP zones in Kashipur block are vacant. In Election parlance, it is taken as ' Failure of the electorate to return a representative'.

In a situation where there are no nominations or all the nominations are rejected, it is take as a first election. Then a second and final chance for fresh filing of nominations is given where no nomination could be had, which in this case was done from 20th to 22nd January 2012. However there were no nominations in this time as well. This is taken as second election and in case the seat still doesn't have any candidate in fray, it is deemed as failure of election and the relevant rules relating to nomination of a public representative is invoked and the process of appointing a nominee is initiated.

Collector Rayagada, as per the letters given below has intimated the State Election Commission about the same and the necessary steps for nominations has been initiated.

Rule 30 of Orissa Gram Panchayat Election rules, 1965; the sub rule 11 of Rule 11 of Orissa Panchayat Samiti Election Rules, 1991 and rule 13 of Orissa Zilla Parishad Election Rules, 1994, will be invoked now, where in case of Ward members and Sarpanch, the nominations of public representatives will be done by the Sub Divisional Magistrate. In case of Panchayat Samiti and ZP members, the nomination of the public representative is done by the government.

The bigger question is that these rules have been framed keeping in mind a situation where for some reasons no one files a nomination or all nominations are rejected and also hoping that only some stray cases, particularly at the lower strata of the Panchayati raj system, will present such situation. While framing these rules, no one might have contemplated a situation, that exists in Kashipur block now, which is one of organized and predetermined mass boycott and non filing of nomination for many posts, in many places.

For anyone, be it the government itself or government servants, it will be a fairly difficult task to nominate public representatives of all strata in the Panchayati Raj system ( if they may be so called) for as big area as an entire block.

The situation in Kashipur has brought to fore an unprecedented situation as far as election process is concerned. It remains to be seen how the government and the district administration handle such 'nomination' situation.

NO RESPONSE TO ANOTHER APPEAL FROM DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION TO RESOLVE THE JHODIA ISSUE

Yet another request from the district administration to resolve the Jhodia issue went without a response from the representatives of the Jhodia community. The Collector Rayagada had called a meeting on 20.01.12 at 11.00 am, with the members of the Jhodia community to discuss and break the impasse on the no nomination situation arising out of the agitation of the Jhodia community for ST status. A written request is said to have been sent by the district administration thorough BDO Kashipur, which the members of the Jhodia community refused to receive.

The District administration again waited till 1.00 pm, but no one turned up. Even some media persons informed that they had talked with some Jhodia leaders and that they have decided to not to come for the meeting.

The second notification for nominations for different posts in the Panchayat election has already been issued and the last date of receiving the nominations is 22nd January 2012. If in any case the nomination are not filed during this time also, it will be deemed that the electorate has afield to return any representative for the respective posts and the rules relating to ' Nomination by government' will be invoked.

The rule 30 of Orissa Gram Panchayat Election rules, 1965; the sub rule 11 of Rule 11 of Orissa Panchayat Samiti Election Rules, 1991 and rule 13 of Orissa Zilla Parishad Election Rules, 1994 clearly state the procedure of nomination for the post of ward member, Sarpanch, Panchayat Samiti member and Zilla Parishad member.

PANCHAYAT ELECTIONS: SECOND MEETING WITH POLITICAL PARTIES TO SOLVE THE JHODIA ISSUE.

The district administration has informed the State Election Commissionthat 12 G.P.s in Kashipur and one in K.Singhpur has not received any nomination till the last date of filing nomination. Also in due course of time, as things stand, almost all the candidates for the three Z.P. zones of Kashipur have withdrawn their candidature (including political party sponsored and independents).

Also in two G.P.s of Muniguda, no nominations have been filed.

As per the instruction of State Election Commission, fresh notification has been issued inviting nominations in places and for posts, for which no nominations were received.

Meanwhile, in the case of Kashipur where nominations have not been filed or withdrawn, apparently to express solidarity with the cause of Jhodia community, for inclusion in S.T. list, the District Administration has had series of discussion with the representatives of the Jhodia community where in the District Administration had appraised them of the efforts taken by the State Govt. regarding their long standing demand of inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes. They were also requested to not to boycott the Panchayat polls, a decision which they have expressed directly as well as indirectly. The District Administration had discussed with the representatives of the Jhodia community, for as many as three times.

Also on 16.01.2012, a meeting with the political parties was held, which was also attended by the Election Observer. The District Administration had requested the representatives of the political parties to help resolve the impasse by discussing the issue with the Jhodia community and help the smooth conduct of the election process.

Accordingly a meeting was scheduled with the representatives of the political parties of the Block level and the representatives of the Jhodia community on 17.01.2012 at 11.00 AM. The Collector & SP Rayagada, along with the Election Observer and other officials waited for the representatives to arrive for discussion.

However no one turned up.

By 3.00 PM, it was learnt that the representatives of the political parties of the Block level had arrived in Rayagada and had decided to withdraw nominations already filed for the Z.P. zones of Kashipur-A, B and C.

The District Administration sent a word through Sub-Collector, Rayagada to the political parties representatives to have a discussion with the District Administration before withdrawing their nominations and that after this it was upto them to decide either way about their nomination. However, inspite of the request of the District Administration, there was no response from the representatives of the political parties and some of them withdrew their nominations on that day and the rest on 18.01.2012.

The District Administration also had another meeting with the political parties on 19.01.2012, to discuss the same issue and to impress upon them the need to participate in the election process by filing nominations, wherever it has not been. He also requested them to use their influence and contact with the people and to try to solve the deadlock. He impressed that it is a dangerous trend to stall the Election process for fulfilling the demands of people and needs to be checked. The right the masses to vote is one such right which has been got after a lot of struggle and sacrifice and it needs to be valued. Giving up this right to proves against non fulfillment of a demand, howsoever genuine it may be, is against the spirit of democracy, Collector Rayagada said. He asked all political parties to join hands and collectively strive to resolve the impasse.

Collector Rayagada has also instructed the Executive Engineer Rural Works to visit the Raghubari and Dimiriguda GPs, along with BDO Muniguda and appraise the people of the PMGSY road project, which was in rough weather because of issues with Forest clearance. The Collector has discussed the mater with the DFO and the necessary clearance has been obtained. The RD department has to just expedite the work now. The district administration hopes that this will persuade the people to take back their decision to boycott the Panchayat polls, Collector Rayagada said.

CANDIDATES FROM KASHIPUR BLOCK WITHDRAW NOMINATION

To resolve the impasse over the no nomination situation in the Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis and the Zilla Parishad zones of Kashipur and other areas, a meeting was called by the district administration, where the representatives of various political parties, representatives of the Jhodia community and other officials, including the election observor were invited. The meeting was scheduled at 11 am today.

The district administration waited, however the delegation from Kashipur did not turn up till 3 pm. At about 3 pm it was learnt that the candidtes for the post of Zilla Parishad member had gone to the Sub Collector office to withdraw the nomination. A message is said to have passed to them by the district administrration through the Sub Collector to first have a discussion with the district administration before deciding about the withdrawl of candidature. However there seems to be no response from the withdrawing candidates and almost all of the candidates of Kashipur's three ZP constituencies have withdrawn their nomination, which leaves three constituencies without any nomination.

The matter will be reported to the State Election Commission and as has been already notified, fresh nomination will be invited from 19 th January onwards. This technically means that in the first election in these three ZP constituencies, the electorate failed to return any representative.

IAS PROBATIONERS' RAYAGADA STUDY TOUR

As part of the winter study tour of the IAS Officer trainees, a batch of 16 officers of the 2011 batch of the Group no. 4 are visiting Rayagada district for studying the tribal development, what is known as tribal attachment.

The group reached Rayagada on 09.01.12 night and the next day, after interaction with the Collector Rayagada, who gave an overview of the tribal development, they proceeded to the Ekalavya Model Residential School and The DKDA Chaitkona. They visited a couple of schools, including the Khajuri village of the Dongaria Kandhas.

On 11th January they are visiting the Gunupur sub division, where they will interact with the Sub Collector Gunupur and the PA ITDA Gunupur about Forest Rights act and OTELP project. Then they are to visit the Lanjia Saura development Agency ( LSDA) at Puttasingi.

Their tour will be over on 11th Jan 2012.

DISRUPTION TO ELECTION PROCESS IN KASHIPUR

SUMAN JHODIA. TRIBAL LEADER FROM KASHIPUR

Group of people belonging to the Jhodia community have reportedly locked the Gram Panchayat offices in as many as seven locations to protest their non inclusion in the list of Scheduled tribes. This has grossly affected the election process in the Kashipur block of Rayagada district.

Earlier this month the representatives of the Jhodia community have expressed their resolve to boycott the elections for the same. The district administration has held series of meetings with the representatives of the community and explained the latest position to the them.

The case of the Jhodia community is typical one. they belong to the larger Poroja tribe and are a subgroup called 'Jhodia Poroja'. The name Jhodia poroja is reflected in the list of STs approved by the Government of India's Ministry of tribal affairs.

During the settlement operation in Orissa in the late seventies and early 80s, the people belonging to the Jhodia Poroja tribe were, inadvenertantly, recorded as only "Jhodia' a name that they were generally known as, but unfortunately, this name does not figure in the approved list of the Scheduled Tribes of govt. of India.

This technical error lead to numerous problems for the Jhodia community and they have been deprived of the ST status, which is enjoyed by other tribes and a few people recorded as 'Jhodia Poroja' ( a name that figures in the list of Scheduled tribes) in their Record of Rights( RORs) in their own community.

There have been number of clarifications from the district administration right from the time when Kashipur was a part of the Kalahandi Estate, the undivided Koraput district and now the Rayagada district, wherein it has been clarified that the people recorded as Jhodia are not different from Jhodia poroja. Even for matrimonial alliances and other cultural aspects people recorded as Jhodia and Jhodia Poroja are one and the same community. It is interesting to note that One' Sri. Jhajuri Jhodia' had contested as a ST candidate and represented the assembly constituency.

Recently the Govt of Odisha has sent a proposal for inclusion of the name Jhodia in the list of Scheduled tribes and it is only a matter of time for the community to get their rightful entitlement.

However inspite of being appraised by the district administration of the same, some elements have locked the Panchayat buildings and tried to obstruct the election process. Collector Rayagada said that, though the district administration is sympathetic about the cause of the Jhodia tribals, any act of lawlessness will be dealt with an iron hand and it wont hesitate to make arrests and take necessary action against those who disrupt the election process.

PANCHAYAT ELECTIONS TO BE IN 5 PHASES IN RAYAGADA

VISIT OF SR. ADVISER PLANNING COMMISSION TO RAYAGADA

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Sri. Mohanty, IAS ( AP) Sr. Advisor Planning commission visited Rayagada district today along qwith Sri. Arbind Padhy, IAS Director Special projects Panchayat Raj dept. Govt of Odisha, visited Rayagada today. They visited the Kolnora and Rayagada blocks and saw various works under the MGNREGS, IAP and other schemes. The Sr. Advisor planing commission was very pleased to see the check dam cum foot bridge projects executed by the Watershed dept out of Integrated Action Plan( IAP) which has proved to be very useful in easing the situation due to prevalence of drought this year. Director Special Projects advised to take up horticulture crops with the water that is made available for irrigation by these projects and make a model livelihood plan out of it, in all such places where check dam has been built.

In the afternoon they also visited the Gumma and Kumbhikota Gram Panchayats of Rayagada district and saw NREGS and IAP owrks there. One such Pipe water scheme has been executed by RWSS on a hilltop habitation in the Champikota village which has been praised by all. It is an endeavor of the district administration to make visible impact in the interior areas through various flagship programs of the government, particularly MGNREGS and IAP. Hence many important projects were taken up in remote and interior areas after assesing the felt need.

The district administration has taken up area opening projects which on olves making alternayive conectivity to areas which otherwise would be accesible only by a circuitous route. Two such projecys were seen bu the senior advisor planning commission, one at chekaguda the foot suspension bridge and the other road opening from Kumang to Nisikhal. These projects would not only redice the distance, but also open up the economy of the area.