Rayagada Collector discusses with tribal leaders to make Chaiti Festival pompous and culture-friendly
Dr.Badal Tah,Odishabarta
Rayagada, December 23: District Collector Swadha Dev Singh has discussed with tribal leaders of Rayagada Adibasi Mahasangha & Rayagada Adibasi Samaj regarding Chaiti festival- the most important cultural extravaganza of the district to be held from December 26 to 30. He has assured the leaders of both these outfits to make them part of various sub-committees and sought their cooperation to make the event memorable, inclusive and local culture friendly.
She has strictly directed the District Culture Office to be accountable to the Govt procedures and people. As the District Culture Officer has gone on long leave without handing over the charge to DIPRO, several difficulties have cropped up; but the Collector has been putting all efforts and coordinating with all district level officers to get rid of any kind of bottleneck. Though most of the Chaiti related data including cash book is not available in the department’s computer, DIPRO is trying his best to restore the same from different available sources. Starting from district-level Chaiti sports, the preparation program for cricket, etc is going on loan basis.
During Chaiti preparatory meeting there was an over sharing of the previous year’s accounts. Lawyers, media representatives and tribal elected representatives also expressed their displeasure over the 2022 Chaiti festival. In the presence of the Tribal and Law Minister, MLAs, tribal leaders expressed their anger about the neglect of tribals. Finger was pointed directly at the District Culture Officer Sushmita Bouri. The audience expressed the opinion that there had been severe financial irregularities in the previous year. The general public questioned the working modalities of the culture officer regarding spending of 92 lakh rupees. The officers responsible were condemned by the participants present on the occasion.
Seeing the situation, SP Vivekananda Sharma himself was compelled to admit that there was a mistake in the administration. The meeting ended in a very complicated situation. Although the District Collector was absent in the said meeting, she took the issues raised very seriously. Though District Culture Officer Ms. Bauri herself has applied for long leave, it has become a matter of discussion that she has been forced to go on long leave for her tainted activities. However, people have appreciated the district collector for issues such as discussion with tribals, change of culture officer.
During the discussion with the members of the committee related to this People’s Festival, it was found that there were no records of the District Cultural Council in the office. There is no data on the computer. No documents of District Art Culture Federation (Zilla Kala ebam Sansktika Sangha) were not handed over. It appears that there are no accounts mainly related to receipts and expenses. There is only twenty eight thousand rupees in the bank account.
The DCO seems to be uncooperative. Instead of handing over everything before going on a long leave, the officer is reported to be not picking up most of the phone calls. At the main gate of the Sanskruti Bhawan, only a hoarding was put up and the officer in charge was seen sitting almost idle. Before the inauguration of Chiti on 26th December, important activities such as games, competitions, printing of Chaitali books etc. have been started. However, everything seems to be going well with the intervention of the District Collector. The prominent members of various sub-committees have expressed that if such process continues, there will be problems in carrying out the work smoothly. In the current Chaiti festival, local artists, vendors, entrepreneurs and tribals and local people have been given priority by the district collector. In such a situation, the people of the district have expressed that it is necessary for the District Collector to take urgent steps and find a well-thought-out strategy to fully activate the Culture Office.
