Odisha moots compulsory share allotment for land losers

The BJD's promise has been articulated in Governor S C Jamir's address to the state assembly

The Odisha government would make it mandatory for industries buying private land for their projects to provide shares to land losers and gram panchayats.

The compulsory allotment of shares, one of the promises made by the Naveen Patnaik led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in its election manifesto, has been articulated in Governor S C Jamir’s address to the state assembly.

“My government shall revive sick and closed industries and will make mandatory for industries involving acquisition of private land to provide shares to gram panchayats and persons from whom land is acquired so that such gram panchayats and land losers can have a continuous source of income,” Jamir said in his address on the inaugural day of the assembly session.

Stating that the government is committed to sustain the momentum gained in expanding industrial base, Jamir said, “My government will focus on harvesting the gains from industrialisation by encouraging local value addition so that employment opportunities are generated for the youth of the state and it augments revenue generation for the state.”

To prepare the vast majority of youth coming into workforce annually, the state government would introduce a ‘Chief Minister’s Employment Generation Scheme’. The scheme aims to upgrade skills of at least 150 youth from every gram panchayat  who will then be linked to loans and subsidies.

An ‘Odisha Youth Innovation Fund’ would be created to incubate new business ideas coming from young entrepreneurs.

The Governor said the government would move from a need based to rights based governance and delivery system.

“My government shall set up ‘Odisha State Transparency Council’, an independent body outside the government to ensure transparency in tendering and overseeing quality of works executed by government departments. A ‘Right to Service Authority’ shall be created outside the government to monitor and implement the Right to Service Act. Besides, development councils will be planned for the development of scheduled and backward areas with a view to accelerate the pace of inclusive growth and decentralised governance,” he stated.

In sync with the BJD’s pre-poll promise, the Governor announced all villages with a population of 1,000 or more will be converted into gram panchayats. Untied funds will be made available to gram panchayats, panchayat samities and zilla parishads with a view to boost local planning.

A new rural connectivity scheme named ‘Chief Minister Sadak Yojana’ would be launched to provide road connectivity to villages and the scope of Biju Setu Yojana would be expanded.

The Governor’s address revisited Odisha’s long-standing demand for a special category status.

“Our state can achieve all round progress if Odisha is given the status of special category state under our Constitution. Our fight for special category status will be intensified in the coming years till this legitimate demand is acceded to by the central government. An Odia university will be established to facilitate all round development of Odia language,” he said.

Reaffirming the government’s commitment to develop western Odisha and backward KBK (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) districts, Jamir said, “We shall simultaneously plan for special drought proofing measures and irrigation facilities for the traditionally drought prone areas of western Odisha and KBK region.

“My government shall upgrade all the major two lane roads in the region into four lane roads and an expressway shall be constructed to connect northern and southern parts of Odisha.”