Why Govt. Health System is destined to suffer in Odisha

Why  Govt. Health System is destined to suffer in Odisha

Status of all categories of Doctors as on 1.3.2018

Dear friends

Recently, the State Govt. has declared plethora of health schemes starting from providing free medicine to patients and free dialysis for kidney patients to SAMPURNA Yojana for total control of MMR and IMR in the state. These schemes are propagated and highlighted to show the Govt.’s commitment to ensure effective health delivery system to the people in the state. Moot question is despite much-hyped scheme and budgetary allocation for health service, why the people are deprived of getting proper treatment in the hospitals.  Why health system is still disaster in Odisha.     The disastrous situation in Hospitals is due to absence of doctors and para-medical staff  in the hospitals.  Though infrastructure is available, technical staff is not available to handle it. Though free medicine is available, no doctor is there to prescribe medicine and treat the patients.

RTI Application was filed to the PIO, Dept. of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of Odisha seeking information about details of doctor, medical staff, and situation of infrastructure in Govt. hospitals in Odisha. On 7.4.18, the PIO has supplied the information about status of all categories of doctors in Govt. Hospitals in different districts as on 1.3.2018. 

·  50% of  post of Doctors are vacant  in Odisha.

·  303 doctors are absconding. They got relieved but not joined without any information to Govt. Many doctors have left job without information to Govt. Astonishingly, the State Govt. has not dismissed them.

Status of all categories of Doctors as on 1.3.2018

Sl.No	District	Sanctioned	Position
			Regular	Ad-hoc	Contractual	Corpus fund	Total position	Vacancy	% of Vacancy
1	Angul	197	71	13	14		98	99	50.25
2	Balasore	285	110	12	25		147	138	48.42
3	Baragarh	220	80	11	9		100	120	54.55
4	Bhadrak	180	61	9	9		79	101	56.11
5	Bolangir	248	112	15	17		144	104	41.94
6	Boudh	95	44	4	0		48	47	49.47
7	Cuttack	308	161	12	46		219	89	28.90
8	Deogarh	86	33	0	5		38	48	55.81
9	Dhenkanal	193	69	12	10		91	102	52.85
10	Gajapati	137	55	6	20		81	56	40.88
11	Ganjam	399	121	8	29		158	241	60.40
12	Jagatsingh Pur	157	60	7	10		77	80	50.96
13	Jajpur	207	69	16	29		114	93	44.93
14	Jharsuguda	113	36	4	14		77	80	50.96
15	Kalahandi	249	78	17	31		126	123	49.40
16	Kandhamal	216	80	25	16		121	95	43.98
17	Kendrapara	171	60	13	8		81	90	52.63
18	Keonjhar	273	112	9	15		136	137	50.18
19	Khurda	211	98	11	23		132	79	37.44
20	Koraput	258	83	25	38		146	112	43.41
21	Malkangiri	141	50	8	2	18	78	63	44.68
22	Mayurbhanj	407	151	9	45		205	202	49.63
23	Nawarangpur	190	53	16	31	2	102	88	46.32
24	Nayagarh	188	57	8	8		73	115	61.17
25	Nuapara	116	42	8	4	4	58	58	50.00
26	Puri	240	89	5	23		117	123	51.25
27	Rayagada	190	59	26	18	2	105	85	44.74
28	Sambalpur	195	88	5	11		104	91	46.67
29	Sonepur	127	54	9	6		69	58	45.67
30	Sundargarh	289	109	7	19		135	154	53.29
31	Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar	175	108	5	6		119	56	32.00
32	RGH, Rourkela	75	33	1	0		34	41	54.67
	Medical College	78	1	0	0		1	77	100
	Sub-total	6614	2487	336	541	26	3390	3224	48.75
33	State HQ	105	66				66	39	37.75
34	Relieved  but not joined		102
35	Long leave and unauthorised absent		201

More information will be posted very soon.

Pradip  Pradhan

M-9937843482

Date- 13.4.18

distribution of Smart Phone to Women farmers in Odisha- A scheme of hoax

Decision to distribute Smart Phone to Women farmers in Odisha- 
A   scheme of hoax  and deception of Naven Patnaik Govt.

On 8.4.18,  Sri Surya Narayan Patra, Minister for Cooperation has declared  about State Govt.’s decision  to distribute Smart Phone to women farmers  free of cost.  Sri Patro has also stated  that   the information about  agriculture, climatic condition ,    technical advice  will be disseminated  to Women farmers   through Smart phone.  

As I recall, in 2013 just before 2014- Assembly election, Nabin Patnaik, Chief Minister declared   mobile scheme for farmers. Under the Scheme, a budgetary allocation of Rs. 2 crores was earmarked to distribute mobile to 20,000 farmers free of cost. A mega Mobile distribution ceremony was organised in Bhubaneswar to inaugurate launching of Mobile scheme.  Chief Minister launched the scheme and distributed mobile to few farmers free of cost.  As per RTI information, Total amount of Rs. 35 lakh  was spent  for this launching ceremony.   This mobile was distributed with the objective of sensitising the farmers through mobile message about agricultural schemes, technical advice for cultivation etc.

After one year of distribution of mobile phone to farmers, RTI Application was filed to few districts like Khurda, Bolangir, Kalahandi , Malkangiri  to  get  information about list of farmers distributed  mobile phones. The idea of seeking this information was to interview the farmers  about use of mobiles  by them and how it helps them  to get the  information about agriculture from the Govt.  Not a single District provided the information about the list of farmers.  The Govt. has also no list of farmers who received the mobiles.  There is also no study by the Govt.  about use of mobile by farmers or their family members. It was learnt from Govt. officials that  the mobiles were distributed  to the farmers  in view of forthcoming election of 2014 to woo  them  for votes.  Dissemination of information through mobile phone was just a plea for spending money from state exchequer to get votes.

As the forth-coming assembly election is nearby, the BJD Govt. is trying hard to   garner electoral support from different section of voters by declaring various lucrative schemes. Smart phone for women farmers is one of them.  The declared objective of  distribution smart phone  to women farmers   for information dissemination about  cultivation  is false  and deception.  The agenda is to mobilise women farmers for votes   in the coming assembly election   through Smart phone.

The people of Odisha must understand the evil design of Govt.  behind distribution of  Smart Phone which forced  around 200 farmers to commit suicide in Odisha.

Pradip Pradhan, M: 9937843482

Date: 09.04.2018

Eviction Drive of Encroached Land by Govt. Squad is Farce in Bhubaneswar,

Drive for Eviction of Encroached Land by Govt. Squad   is Farce in Bhubaneswar, capital City of Odisha

Dear friends

Encroachment of precious   land by powerful people, Educational Institutions, MLAs, Ministers, private persons, business houses is very  common  phenomena  in Bhubaneswar. Thousands of acres of   Govt. land has been encroached by the people close to power circle for years together.  Achyut Samant of KIIT  has illegally  acquired  and through  fraudlent means  more than 100 acres of land  in  Patia  and Pathargadia  Mouza.  CAG Report  on  General and Social Sector   presented  to Govt.of Odisha  in 2014  has  exposed  how valuable land  has been encroached  by    Govt. officials, corporate  houses  in Bhubaneswar.  Being pretty aware about extent of encroachment of   huge land, the State Government has hardly  taken  steps  to recover  the land.  On the other hand,  the GA Dept.  under control of Nabin  Patnaik, Chief Minister, Odisha  since 18 years  is seen  silent spectator  to huge  quantity of land encroached  by  the powerful people   without taking any steps  against  them.

In 2015, RTI Application was  filed  to Department of General Administration, Govt. of Odisha  seeking  information about details  of land encroached , detected , evicted and recovered  in Bhubaneswar .     The information was  consciously denied   by the PIO. However, after order of Odisha Information Commission, the PIO dt.  12.2.18  and 22.3.18  has provided the  following  information.

1.       On 15.9.2014, a Central Enforcement Monitoring Committee ( CEMC)  has  been constituted  for eviction of encroachers. The said  committee  has been formed  under the chairmanship of  Vice-Chairman, Bhubaneswar Development Authority comprising  Commissioner of police, Bhubaneswar, Director of Estates, GA Dept.,  Commissioner, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation,  Secretary, Odisha State Housing Board as the members  for monitoring  the eviction of encroachments.

2.       Under the said committee, 6 Enforcement Squads have been constituted  out of which 5 Squads  are entrusted  to detect encroachments  within BMC area and the rest one  is entrusted  to detect encroachments beyond BMC area but within BDA area.  Besides  that,  an eviction Squad  consisting of representatives  from GA Department,  BDA, BMC , Commissioner of Police  and other user agencies  is entrusted  to evict the encroachers  from the Government land  as per the schedule of  eviction programme.

3.       GA Dept. has provided contradictory statistics about  extent of encroached land  and amount of land evicted.  On 12.2.18,  the PIO stated  that  Ac. 110 .000 of Govt. land  have been taken over  by GA Department  to its control  after eviction of  the encroachers. The total extent of Government land under General Administration Dept. is 21,511  acres out of which Ac. 478.314 of Govt. land  has been encroached  within BMC area.

4.    But on 22.3.18, the PIO  has provided the following statistics  about   total land  encroached  and evicted  by GA Dept.

Year	No. of demolition programme executed	Extent of Govt.land detected	Extent of Govt. land  free from encroachments
2014-15	128	Ac. 841.936	Ac. 32.645
2015-16	123	Ac. 322.707	Ac. 45.063
2016-17	103	Ac. 154.213	Ac. 56.646
Grand Total	354	Ac. 1318.856	Ac. 134.354

Comments

1.        From the above statistics, it was observed that t he State Govt. has recovered just 10% of  the total land encroached  in Bhubaneswar.

2.       The  State Govt. i.e.,  the Eviction Squad  have miserably  failed to evict  the land encroachers despite several complaints  filed    by the common people.

Pradip Pradhan

M-9937843482

Date-9.4.18

Resolution of 10th State Convention on RTI in Odisha

Resolution passed in the 10^th State Convention on “Right to Information” held at Saheed Smruti Bhawan, Bhadrak from 30^th March to 1^st April, 2018

Bhadrak Declaration

The 10^th State Convention on “Right to Information” was organised by Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan ( A platform of RTI Activists spearheading  campaign  for effective implementation  of RTI Act in Odisha)  at Saheed Smruti Bhawan, Bhadrak on 30^th March to 1^st Aprl, 2018.  Around 30 RTI Activists, intellectuals, academicians, PIOs, retired Govt. officials had participated in the deliberation during convention.  While Sri Sunil Kumar Mishra, State Chief Information Commissioner delivered inaugural address in the 1st day of the Convention, Prof. M.Sridhar Acharyulu, Central Information Commissioner addressed the gathering in the closing ceremony. Prominent figures who spoke about RTI and enlightened the audience were Sri Venkatesh Nayak, Programme Manager, Common-Wealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), New Delhi, Sri Nikhil Dey, National Convener, NCPRI, Sri Rabi Das, senior journalist, Sri Panchanan Kanungo, former Minister, Sri Dhirendra Panda, State Convener, Civil Society Forum on Human Rights, Sri S.M.Faroque, eminent Social Activist, Smt. Sanjukta Panigrahi, Woman Activist, Sri Subash Panda, Social Activist and many others.  Sri Pradip Pradhan, State Convener, Sri Biswa Keshari Mohanty, District Convener, Sri Prakash jena, District Coordinator of OSAA coordinated the 3-day programme. 

After long deliberation on various issues relating to implementation of RTI Act and anti-corruption campaign, attack on RTI Activists and  functioning of Odisha Information Commission,  the convention unanimously passed the following resolutions to strengthen RTI Campaign and fight out corruption in the state.

1. Though 12 years’ implementation of RTI Act is over in the state, the   common people at grass-root level are hardly aware about this sun-shine law due to lack of awareness campaign. It is seen that RTI Act has become most powerful tool in the hand of citizens to fight against corruption.  The common people are seen worst victim of corruption and irregularities noticed in the implementation of various Govt. welfare programmes. Realising   necessity of the common people  to be sensitised  about RTI Act to fight against  corruption and deprivation of their entitlements,  OSAA will organise  massive awareness programme  at Gram Panchayat and  block-level.  The people will be educated and motivated to file RTI in the Gram Panchayats,   breeding ground for corruption.  Simultaneously,  twice in a month, RTI  Help centre  will be organised   in front of block office to sensitise  the people about  the procedure  to file RTI  and  access the information about  welfare  schemes like PDS, ICDS, MDM, Agricultural loan scheme, NREGA,   Irrigation scheme, Housing scheme etc.

2.It  was pointed out  by many speakers that   awareness programme in school and colleges is very low.  The students are hardly aware about RTI. So it was resolved to organise seminar, symposium in the High Schools, colleges and Universities in a massive way across the state.

3.  As per section 4(4) of the RTI Act,  the suo moto disclosed  information shall be published  in Odia language. But though 12 years have passed,   not even a single Govt. office has made proactively disclosed information {section 4 (1b) } in Odia language. All the information are in English which the common people could not understand it. Recently, the State Govt. has declared to enforce all official correspondence in Odia language. In view of it, the Convention demands before State Govt. to take steps immediately to disclose  all  such  information  in Odia language and update all  proactively disclosed information as required under section  4 (1b)  of the RTI Act.

4. It was debated in the convention that some of the  provisions of Odisha RTI  Rules, 2005 i.e., compulsory 11-column RTI Application, mandatory system of submission of proof of citizenship at the time of filling RTI Application, compulsory Appeal form and fee are illegal  and absurd. These provisions have created a lot of the problem for common people to access the information. So, it was resolved that the State Govt. should withdraw these illegal provisions and to make Odisha RTI Rules  more peoples friendly.

5. The Convention expressed deep concern over rising attack on RTI Activists across the state. A number of RTI Activists are implicated with false cases. They are threatened and beaten up mercilessly and socially boycotted. Within period of 10 years, around 30 RTI Activists have been harassed and tortured by the politicians, corrupt bureaucrats and vested groups in the state. Two RTI Activists have been murdered.  So in view of it, the house demands that the State administration should ensure protection to RTI Activists and register their complaints on priority basis and investigate the matter and arrest the culprits.

6. One of the major scams exposed by Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan is Land Scam in Odisha.   Huge quantity of land have been illegally acquired by  BJD politicians, Ministers, MLAs, Officers, private educational institutions and  business house  including KIIT through fraudlent means  in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The irregularities in allotment of plot/land by IDCO, Odisha State Housing Board, GA Department, CDA and BDA  was enquired by Task Force   in 2014 which has recommended  for taking legal action against the people involved in the scam and  returning back of the land from them.  Though four years have passed, the State Govt. has not been able to recover a single piece of land  from land grabbers.  The land scam as estimated has caused a revenue loss of Rs. 10,000 crore to state exchequer.  As the State Govt. is sitting over investigation file, OSAA will carry out the movement for returning back   this land to Govt. fold and legal action against land grabbers.

7. After enactment of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act in 2013, the State Govt. took much credit   as first state by passing  Odisha Lokayukta Bill in 2014. Though four years passed, the State Govt. has not constituted Lokayukta in Odisha. It was resolved  to continue the movement  demanding  constitution of Lokayukta in the state.  State-wide signature campaign will be organised  and submitted to Governor seeking direction to State Government to constitute Lokayukta in the State .

8. In 2014, the Parliament  in its last session passed  Whistle –Blower Protection Act in order to provide safeguard  to the  Whistle blowers fighting against corruption and irregularities  in Govt. machinery. When BJP Came to power in the centre,  it was expected  that  this Govt. would take steps to implement the law.  But astonishingly, the BJP Govt.  made some retrograde amendment to this Act  and    presented  in parliament  for passage of  the Whistle-blowers’ Protection ( amendment) Bill  which was opposed  by the Activists  across the  country  and demanded  its  withdrawal. This Amendment Bill is still pending.  On the other hand, Attack on Human Rights Activists, RTI Activists is rising day by day  in the  absence of any legal framework  for  their protection in the country.  A good number of RTI Activists  have been murdered. Hundreds of Activists have been mercilessly beaten up , put behind bar on charges of false cases.  After thorough deliberations, it was resolved that OSAA will keep continuity of this movement for immediate implementation of Whistle blowers’ Protection Act.

9. The power and functions of Odisha Information Commission was debated in the convention. All the Activists expressed their displeasure over delayed hearing of the case and long pendency of the case. It is estimated that around 10,000 cases is pending  in the office of  OIC  for disposal. Due to delayed hearing,  the  information , though provided after order of the Commission  is loosing its  importance. It was resolved to demand to Odisha Information Commission to hear the cases  within 3 months of receipt of the Complaint/ Second Appeal cases by the office of Commission.

10.  In order to bring more transparency and accountability in implementation of Govt. programme, the Convention passed a resolution demanding before  Govt.  to conduct social  audit of all works of all Departments. So that the participation of the common people will in crease  in Govt. and utmost transparency  to be enforced.

Prepared  by

Pradip Pradhan

State Convener, Odisha Soochana Adhikar Abhijan

M-9937843482

Email- odishasoochanaadhikar@gmail.com