Odisha Governor Writes to CM Naveen Patnaik to Address People's Grievances

Bhubaneswar: Odisha governor Raghubar Das on Tuesday shot off a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik advising him to address the grievances of people which he came across during his recent visit to Angul and Dhenkanal districts.

During his visit to Joranda Old Age Home, the governor found that the institution was having issues pertaining to land settlement and other amenities.

Similarly, the people of Kandhaberini village in Angul district apprised the Governor of the issue of air and water pollution due to mining activities. Apart from this the ground water level is depleting considerably due to the mining activities. The regular meeting of the Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) has not been held for two years. Because of this, the genuine issues of people have not been addressed, the villagers told the governor.

The governor has also highlighted in his letter that the people have also expressed concern over lack of action by forest department to check/ prevent elephant menace which is resulting in severe damage to agricultural fields.

“Be it issue of poor people, tribals or farmers, Odisha governor has seen the ground reality and pointed out things. The development picture of Odisha is grim and the dropout of matriculation students is highest in the country. Union minister education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has on Monday presented in the Parliament the dropout rate in Class 10 was 49.9 per cent in Odisha while the national average rate is 20 per cent,” said Mohan Majhi, Opposition Chief Whip.

Senior Congress leader, Jaydev Jena said the governor’s observation reflects the overall situation in Odisha. “The governor’s observation portrays the overall situation in Odisha. The present BJD government has shattered the education system. There is absolutely no governance at the grassroots and people suffer from multiple problems,” said Jena.

Senior BJD leader and former minister Padmanava Behera said, “We are not concerned who said what... people are appreciating our good governance.”