My Dream Orissa Blog

Being an oriya and ardent fan of orissa culture, it's people and state, I thought to create a platform where we can discuss positive developments in our state. I have been going through different blogs/news report searching for orissa/bhubaneswar news and gets happy to see if there is any good news. This has been haqppenning since last 5-6 years when I was posted in mangalore in southern india. The kind of develoment I saw in south, is something I never imagined in orissa. I felt humiliated when people from other states think that orissa means floods/cyclones/poverty and on similar lines. I try to explain that its not the orissa which I am born. I try to tell the positive stories in orissa. Being there, I thought Orissa must develop and develop in such a way that it's at par or better than all other states. It's a big challenge and the things that did not happen in last 60 yrs of independence must happen now. There are various reasons for orissa being underdeveloped. Few of the reasons are 1) large tribal population 2)frequent natural calamities 3)lower industry base/agriculture being the main driver for the economy 4) lethargic attitude of people 5) central govt apathy 6) leadership issues - both at state and central level. There may be some more factors as well but these are the major ones. The compounding effect is that orissa is at the bottom of many socio economic parameters. I strongy believe that education is the key driver for the turnaround of the state. There have been positive developments in education sector for orissa lately be it setting up national level institutions like IIT, NISER, CU, WCU. These along with private universities like vedanta and Sri Sri would change the education landscape in orissa. This will help the state to prospor and supply man power for the various industries being set up here. Still, there is a long way to go. Primary and secondary education also needs focus. The school drop out rate in orissa is very high. This needs to be controled and parents need to be encouraged for good education of their children. We have been fortunate with natural resources. Till now, it has not benefited the peopl of orissa. The industries must be asked to do local employment and contribute towards society. Its a welcome step that MCL is setting up a medical collage in talcher. All industries should be asked to do similar things and invest in the education sector. East and orissa will rise with all these and emerge as the number one state in india. Thanks to our current leader Naveen Patnaik, things are going in good direction and we are all hopeful about the future.