Much awaited & planned two days visit of 5T Secretary Pandian to Rayagada
Badal Tah,Odishabarta
Aarrives in helicopter & spends four hours in fourteen marathon discussions, reviews & meetings.
Rayagada, June 8: Private Secretary to CM & 5T Secretary of Govt of Odisha Sri V K Pandian’s meticulously planned minute to minute two days lightening visit to Rayagada ends up in meetings, reviews, discussions and grievance hearings in Rayagada, Kashipur, Bissam Cuttack & Gunupur. And all those events spanned hardly four hours within two days.
Before his arrival, Minister Atanu Sabyasachi & BJD Organising Secretary Sri Pranab Prakash(Bobby) Das made two visits to sort out differences among Sudhir Das & Nekkanti Bhaskar Rao factions. Reliable sources say that Bobby warned the BJD leaders of both factions not to exhibit their differences before Pandian and work together henceforth. Biju Patnaik Auditorium & AMA Hospital works were hurriedly inaugurated by Minister Atanu. Pandian’s visit was scheduled by district administration and then rescheduled several times with instructions from third floor.
“We have never seen a Govt servant’s visit with such a fanfare. As the Minister and BJD’s State Organising Secretary personally monitored the visit of a Government Officer alongwith Collector & SP, it seemed more of a political visit than that of an usual bureaucratic one. We heard about the Officer-Political power play; but the things are crystal clear these days in the context of Pandian’s visit. The circuit house and other infrastructures were given a new look prior to Pandian’s visit, which was never done even during Odisha Governor’s recent visit to the district. Applications, memoranda of institutions already sent through district administration were received by Pandian and then forwarded to district administration like a feudal mechanism. A lavish visit culminates in a fiasco. It is really unfortunate”, lamented Durga Panda, DCC, President, Rayagada.
Rayagada public waited for Pandian at the ground of Multipurpose Indoor Stadium at Ambaguda. His carcade arrived with a number of security personnel, who cordoned him heavily. Assisted by Collector and SP, he just received the petitions & memoranda on the way to the dais without any discussion with many other civil societies namely Rayagada Nagarika Mancha, Press Club, Saradha Srikhetra Sevayat Mahasangha, Walkers Club, Slum Dwellers Association, Employees Union, Rayagada Bhinnakhyam Mahasanga, Rayagada Vikalanga Manch, etc.
On the dais, he spoke for a minute or two about how CM Naveen Pattanaik was concerned about development of Rayagada. He then said that the numbers of petitions he received were really heavy. He assured the gathering to look into the irrigation aspects of farmers, construction and completion of bridges, execution of smart 5T schools with more budget allocation, development of temples, churches and mosques, sports promotion & all round development of Rayagada. Action would be taken within a week, said Pandian. Regarding employees’ demand, Govt needs to finallise after wider consultations at higher levels, so he he can not make false promises in this regard.
Before leaving the venue he did not forget to pose for selfies with the fans and supporters. “It was like much ado about nothing. Though there were plans galore about irrigation projects in Panidangar at Gudari block, Belakana-Nagavali dam in K Singhpur block, Jhanjabati irrigation project in Rayagada block, Vamsadhara irrigation barrage in Gunupur, renovation of Kenduguda and Siltiguda dams excluding several other dysfunctional check dams, nothing has materialised yet. It has multiplied the woes of farmers. Andhra Pradesh has taken advantage of our inaction and established several irrigation projects. Some people from AP, in the name of palm oil and BT cotton cultivation, are in the process of usurping tribal and poor people’s land in Rayagada.
This is yet another way of AP intruding into Odisha’s land, which may create a few more “Kotias” in Rayagada”, said Sri Rasmi Ranjan Dora, a farmer entrepreneur of Kolnara block.
