Demand for South Orissa Development Board gains momentum

BERHAMPUR: The demand for formation of an autonomous Southern Orissa Development Board has gained momentum on the sidelines of Vikash Kranti Sammilani held at Berhampur. The Dakshin Odisha Bikash Parishad convened a special meeting called Vikash Kranti Sammilani at Ganjam Kala Parishad in which several eminent people, including its president Dayanidhi Sahu, Basant Kumar Panigrahi of the Utkal Sammilani, Prahallad Panda, Ghanasyam Mishra, KM Pathi, Anup Das and members of the council were present.Panda spoke about the significant role of southern Orissa in the freedom movement and lamented the neglected condition of the region. Anup Das pointed out the grim picture of poverty and backwardness of the region reported in the Human Development index of the United Nations. It was generally accepted that lack of food security, development of education, poor infrastructure, absence of basic health services, low agricultural production, industrial growth, irrigation etc are responsible for the endemic backwardness of the region. The speakers lamented that though the Government has formed the Western Orissa Development Council (WODC), the demand for a similar body for southern Orissa is ignored. It was felt that in such a situation, a relentless organised struggle is required.

In the meeting, KM Pathi presented papers emphasising on 10 points. The points are: Formation of Southern Orissa Development Council as per the provision under Article 371, decentralisation of power under constitutional amendment in Article 268 to 280, formation of a River Valley Development Authority Board to make proper use of water for power generation, irrigation, fish production, drinking water supply etc, formation of a separate grid to augment power generation in various projects like Machakund, Balimel, Indrabati etc, establishment of project for nuclear power generation, rail link from Gopalpur Port to other industrial belts, rail and road link among NH 5, 217, 43, formation of industrial corridor covering the mines areas starting from Gopalpur to Rourkela, establishment of at least one industrial or economic zone in each southern districts, formation of Gopalpur Port Hinterland Development Authority and steel plant in Nabarangpur, Central Tribal University, super specialist medical college, formation of Marine Development Authority and marine tourism corridor covering areas from Chilka Lake to Golabandh and from Sorala to Sumandi in Ganjam along the coast.
Source: The Pioneer