Odisha Guv writes to Naveen Patnaik over grievances of people

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Governor Raghubar Das has written a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urging him to address various grievances brought to his notice by the people during his recent visit in Angul and Dhenkanal districts of the state.

Das in his letter said that people drew his attention towards their problems on ground when he met them during his visit from December 5-7.

"I recently visited Dhenkanal and Angul districts. It was a very humbling experience for me as I met people of various walks of life at the ground level. During my interaction with them, they brought out various issues pertaining to them, as enclosed herewith, which may kindly be considered by the state government for appropriate action," wrote Das.

The grievances of people include issues pertaining to settlement of land and lack of amenities in an old age home at Joranda in Dhenkanal, construction of Mamata Gruha for health check up of pregnant women at Turanga Grama panchayat in Banarpal block of Angul, serious health hazards faced by the residents in Kandhaberini village in Talcher block of the Angul district because of air, water and noise pollution and depletion of ground water level in the area due to mining activities by Mahanadi Coal Fields Limited.

Similarly, Das was informed that regular meetings of the Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) are not being held during the last two years and so many of the genuine grievances of the local people have not been redressed since long.

The Governor also urged the government to provide necessary support to Baji Rout Chatrabas at Hakimpara in Angul.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Mohan Charan Majhi said that the Governor witnessed the ground reality of development during his spot visit.

Majhi also raised the issue of drop out of class 10 students in Odisha.

The Union Education Minister in Parliament on Monday said that the dropout rate in Class 10 was 49.9 per cent in Odisha while the national average rate is 20.6 per cent. Congress leader Jayadev Jena also attacked the government by saying that the Odisha Governor after his visit found that there has been no development in Angul and Dhenkanal districts.

On the other hand, BJD leader Padmanabha Behera countered saying that the opposition can claim whatever but common people are witnessing the development taking place in various sectors in the state.