False
Propaganda about Subarnarekha Port by Chief Minister
Dear friends
On 13.2.19, Nabin Patnaik, Chief
Minister of Odisha laid the foundation stone of Subarnarekha port at Baliapal
of Balasore district with an estimated
investment of Rs. 5000 crore . This project which estimates to generate
employment for 12000 youths will be undertaken by Tata Steel in collaboration
with Govt. of Odisha. It was advertised in front page of all newspapers.
Having gone through this
advertisement, I had filed RTI Application to the PIO, Department of Transport and
Commerce, Govt. of Odisha for authentication of information. The information
sought for on 15.2.19 is as follows.
·
Copy of
all correspondence of State Govt. made
with Tata Steel for establishment
of Subarnarekha Port at
Baliapal
·
Copy of
decision taken at Govt. level for
establishment of Subarnrekha
Port including copy of the file noting.
·
Copy of
agreement signed with Tata Steel for
setting up Subarnarekha Port
and date of signing of agreement and name of the officers executed
and name of officers present
in the meeting.
·
Details
of payment made to each media house for
publication of advertisement on 13.2.19
On 7.3.19, the PIO, Department of
Commerce and Transport has provided the following information.
A. For
establishment of a port at the mouth of Subarnarekha River in the district of
Balasore, Govt. of Odisha have signed Concession Agreement with M/s Creative Port
Development Pvt. Ltd. in the year 2008 in which Tata Steel is now
the major shareholder in the company. Hence Tata Steel is taking expeditious
steps in the matter by pursuing with the State Govt. for setting up of the
port.
B. Rest
of the information about Govt. decision for establishment of Subarnarekha Port
and correspondence made with Tata Steel and Agreement signed with Tata steel
was not provided to me.
Analysis
A. It
was exposed that Subarnarekha Port project is not new one . Organising “Laying
Foundation Stone ceremony” was big farce, as the agreement was signed in
2008 and the ground work has been started
by the company.
B. There is no agreement signed with Tata Steel
for Subarnarekha project. Tata Steel is a mere
shareholder of the M/s Creative Port
Development Pvt. Ltd. with whom the State Govt. has entered into
agreement.
C. It
is very interesting to note that
though more than 10 years passed,
the company has not started
the project work.
D. The
question comes what is the necessity to
lay foundation stone of port
after 10 years of the sanctioned project.
E. Why the advertisement carries
name of Tata Steel , when Tata Steel is not the project holder. Why name of M/s Creative Port
Development Pvt. Ltd. was skipped in the
advertisement.
F. Many more
could not have been exposed about the project, as the PIO kept
most of the information secret i.e., Govt. decision for
establishment of Subarnarekha Port and correspondence made with Tata Steel and
Agreement signed with Tata steel including copy
of the file noting.
Pradip Pradhan
M-9937843482
Date- 19.4.19
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