Why I feel like crying for my state -Orissa.

The problems:
1. Famine every year
2. Flood every year
3. Starvation deaths, high lighted by media (true or false we don’t know)
4. Highest infant mortality rate in India.
5. Highest malaria deaths in India
6. New industries are difficult to start due to four Ps (poor road ways, politics, it’s people and power)
7. No international air ports
8. Overall condition of the roads is the worst in the country
9. No hospital in the state which attracts out side state patients.
10. Defrostration is the worst (fastest) in the country
11. Corruption is ram pet in every field
12. Chief Minister can’t speak in Oriya, his mother-tongue (the only one in the world)
13. Road roko and train roko are very common. (police comes after 4 to 5 hours)
14. Due to political rivalry and public litigations, improvement work in the state has come to stand still.
15. The big industrialists come to Orissa to take away ores with false promise of starting
A modern Steel plant.
16. Most of the industries and big business houses are owned by non Oriya.
17. Tasty prawns and fish are sold to Bengal; Oriya’s eat stale Andhra fish.
18. Electricity supply to villages is dismal. Most of the time there is no power supply to houses and schools as the stone crusher machines are supplied with electricity by illegal means.
19. River beds are filled with sand due to deforestation resulting in flood every year.
20. Doctors don’t go to peripheral hospitals due to poor communication, politics Many don’t want to go, as there is no punishments, no quarters, nor school facilities for their children.
21. Every year like baggers we ask for central aid which goes to third party and the rest is returned back.
22. Except Rourkela steel plant and Nalco there have been no new industries in the state in last 20 years.
23. Due to unemployment Oriya work in Surat and other places to bring AIDS and misery for their family.
24. Villages in Ganjam district have a deserted look.
25. Highly fertile cultivation lands in Sambalpur ,Balangir and Ganjam district have been purchased by or utilized for cultivation by Andhra people.
26. The corporate office of SAIL, Railway, Shipping and Postal are situated in other states like Bengal or Jharkand.
27. Shortage of doctors.(Due to wrong policies)
28. Hostels in three medical colleges which were built some 50years back are in dilapidated condition.
29. Every one except advocates pays service tax in Orissa.
30. We have more than 10 rivers (3 big) but we don’t know how to utilize them. They only help government to ask for flood relief.
31. Beautiful tourist spots are there in Orissa but it’s difficult to reach due to poor communications and horrible road condition.
32. Important bus services are in hands of private bus owners and passengers are at their mercy
33. The road from Rourkela to Bhubaneswar via Barcot is 350 kilometers but due to horrible road condition buses ply via Sambalpur a distance of 520 kilometers. By this valuable time, money and foreign exchange are lost for each trip.

34. None of the senior citizen or the bureaucrats has done any thing to sort out this perennial transport problems.

For solutions it’s left to the highly paid intellectuals, the people of Orissa and our so called LEADERS?

Let’s start doing some thing positive or else ORISSA will only be remembered as a state of old dilapidate temples, beggars, and nothing else.

People rightly tell that I am a negative person so let it be but if you can show me that Orissa has progressed then show me the figures and facts, I will rectify my self.
Please don’t tell me that we have very good 5* hotels, show rooms, least corrupt CM, very good road between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar , very good private colleges etc. Compare with Andhra, Chennai or Karnatak not with chatishgard or Jarhkhand.

Written on Utkal divas (Orissa day) 2006.

Sanjoy kumar satpathy (Email) = sanjoysatpathy@rediffmail.com