Naveen Patnaik in safe waters, Orissa in a shambles

By Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR, JUNE 11. The Biju Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition Government in Orissa, under the leadership of Mr. Naveen Patnaik, completes 100 days in office on Monday. But it has very little to flaunt in terms of achievements.

Consider this: seven months after the killer cyclone struck the 14 coastal districts, life is yet to get back to normal; millions are still homeless; roads that got washed away are in a state of disrepair; and a large number of villages remain without power.

If reconstruction and rehabilitation of the cyclone- devastated State was Mr. Patnaik's top priority, he has certainly failed in his task. Though the alliance rode to power on an anti-incumbency wave and by highlighting the failure of the previous Congress(I) regime in providing help to the cyclone-affected, its leaders have not been able to do much.

Over 18 lakh houses were affected by the storm. As against seven lakh houses that need to be rebuilt, the Government has managed funds for only 2.5 lakh houses. Worse, even these funds have not resulted in any houses.

Most families continue to live in extreme discomfort in jhuggies with polythene roofs. Shortage of bricks and other building materials as well as masons has nearly brought construction activity to a halt. The arrival of monsoon has worsened things.

Farmers in the cyclone-affected areas have not been provided seeds and bullocks. As a result, many have turned daily labourers. The Government has also not been able to start food- for-work programmes in many areas.

As against the reported number of over 31 lakh cattle deaths, the Government has supplied only 1,100 cows. Though nearly 10,000 human deaths were reported, ex-gratia payments have been made to the kith of about 3000. Power supply has not been restored to over 800 villages and hundreds of lift irrigation points. Many breaches in the river and saline embankments have not been repaired even though monsoon has already arrived. And now, the spectre of floods now looms large.

As the State reels and totters, Mr. Patnaik has been busy cornering leaders of his own party. After expelling his main adversary, Mr. Bijoy Mahapatra, on the eve of his filing nomination papers for the February Assembly polls, Mr. Patnaik has recently succeeded in ensuring that the Rajya Sabha MP, Mr. Dilip Ray, lost his berth in the Union Cabinet.

With the Ministers wielding little clout, all authority is currently concentrated in the hands of Mr. Patnaik and a few chosen bureaucrats. The BJP Ministers, who are unhappy with Mr. Patnaik's style of functioning, however, have little room to protest openly as the BJD is an important ally of the NDA Government at the Centre. The impression that Mr. Patnaik shares a good rapport with the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, keeps them silent. The Government, however, continues to be on a strong political footing thanks to the thin presence of the Opposition in the Assembly. The ruling alliance has 106 MLAs (BJD 68 and BJP 38), while the main Opposition, the Congress(I) has only 22. As accusations of non-performance pile up, mass adulation for Mr. Patnaik is giving way to general indifference. It is time Mr. Patnaik pulled up his socks and started delivering.

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