Vedanta assures quality science Education at Orissa through Science College.

Lanjigarh (Orissa), Jan 30 (PTI) Even as its proposed Rs 15,000 crore university project hit roadblocks, Vedanta group today said they will set up a state-of-the-art science college near its alumina refinery here."The establishment of a science college was a long pending demand of the people of western Orissa as no such institution exists near Lanjigarh," Mukesh Kumar, president and chief operating officer of Vedanta Aluminium (VAL) said here.Being set up by Vedanta in collaboration with DAV educational group, Vedanta Science College (VSC) would start classes from 2011-12 academic year, he said."The aim is to spread science education in interior parts and improve the quality of life of the poorest of the poor besides developing technical manpower for state's industrialisation," Kumar said adding Vedanta has already been running a school here since 2006 in partnership with DAV.The proposed college would be a boon to locals, mainly tribals."Besides getting employment, science education would help us to enhance quality of life in today's science-oriented society," said Prof Arun Kumar Pujari, Vice-Chancellor of Sambalpur University.

Courtsey: PTI

Sabita Fly Ash pulls crowd at Kalahandi Utsav

The Sabita Fly Ash Industry is the first environment-friendly brick-manufacturing unit here producing nearly 10,000 bricks per day. The fly ash, red mud and lime grits, the wastes generated from the Lanjigarh Vedanta Alumina Refinery, are the main raw materials to manufacture the bricks.

Notably, Sabita Fly Ash was the main attraction at the Kalahandi Utsav Ghumura. The firm utilises technology jointly developed by the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar (CSIR Laboratory) along with the Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL).

Thousands of people visited the stall at the Lok Mahotsav and were impressed with the technology and raw materials the industry uses to prepare the bricks.

Answering to a query, Sabita Fly Ash representative Ashok Mishra informed that they take the red mud and fly ash free of cost from VAL to make bricks. The bricks are stronger than the traditional ones and have good value in the market. Mishra further informed that the people of Kesinga, Dharmagarh, Junagarh and Rampur buy their bricks.

Besides being much stronger, the bricks are compact and uniform in shape and colour and meet the Bureau of Indian Standards of IS 12894:2002 (Class 7.5) specifications, Mishra claimed. The industry reportedly does not need much skilled manpower and is an ideal project for an area like Kalahandi district, having a low literacy rate and high unskilled manpower.

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Businessmen community at Lanjigarh threaten to suicide

Hundreds of representatives of Contractors Association, Labours Association, Association of Truck Owners, Association of Small Enterprenuers of Lanjigarh, Biswanathpur, Ambodala and Muniguda area threatened to suiside if Vedanta Aluminium Limited closes its alumina refinery at Lanjigarh which provides livelihood to their families. They came to this conclusion after senior management of the plant informed them about the current situation of the alumina refinery at Lanjigarh.
“We have come to a difficult situation as on December 31, 2010, senior management of VAL informed that Vedanta is going through a rough time as the refinery is incurring heavy loss of Rs. 500-600 crores, so it will be difficlt to run the refinery,” said Binod Gaud, member of the Contractor’s Association.
The association demanded immediate clearance of the Niyamgiri Mining project for the survival o t refinery at Lanjigarh.
After this the association members had met the district administration of Kalahandi to inform them about their situation. “We had met the district collector of Kalahandi and handed over a memorandum saying if the company closes down the refinery our families will come to roads. So please give us alternate ways to earn our livelihood,” said Mahesh Agrawal, another member.
They said that it is not possible to find a single person at Lanjigarh area who is not employed directly or indirectly because of Vedanta. More than 10,000 people depend indirectly to VAL.
According to the members, they have invested lakhs of rupees for the company. They have taken loans in building infrastructure like buying vehicles, developing market complex, building houses etc. Apart from this, thousands of people depend indirectly to the alumina refinery for their livelihood. However, if the alumina refinery at Lanjigarh is closed, they will fight to exist.

Letter to MoEF: Provide justice by establishing an IIFM in Kalahandi, Odisha

To
Sri Jairam Ramesh, Honorable Minister of Envrionment and Forest

CC
Dr Manmohan Singh, Honorable Prime Minister of India
Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Honorable UPA Chariperson
Sri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha
Sri Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary, Indian National Congress Party
Secretaty, Ministry of Envrionment and Forest

Dear Honourable Sri Jairam Ramesh,
Vedanta could have been a great hope for Kalahandi’s industrialization process as the company was planning a world class refinery (one of the largest in Asia) and manufacturing unit in Lanjigarh. There is no other industry in whole Kalahandi constituency. Though there are local intellectuals who still advocate industrialization of Kalahandi through Vedanta, due to small number of affected people (a fraction compared to the people who would have been benefited from industrialization) the project was put in uncertainty by Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF).
The decision by MoEF is largely seen as political in the local and state level, as the involved group directly comes from political parties: opposing group in the local level comes from congress party and supporting group in the local level comes from BJD.
Recently it is also being alleged by various neutral intellectual groups that MoEF has acted harshly on Vedanta in Kalahandi compared to other projects such as Navi Mumbai airport, Pollavoram, POSCO, etc.
Though MoEF’s decision has made activists, environmentalists, NGOs and few political groups unexpectedly happy, it has made nation builders, Kalahandi lovers and economists worried. In this political battle who really took the back seat was the development of Kalahandi, one of the most backward pockets in the nation.
Lanjigarh was one of the locations in the district that made Kalahandi name infamous across the globe for starvation death and child selling. People were dying eating mago kernel in Lanjigarh region in late 1990s which is still available in archives of many national news papers. So far central Govt. approved major projects in Kalahandi are: Upper Indravati Project (approved during Marajee Desai Govt.), Lanjigarh road – Junagarh railway line (approved during Chandrasekhar Govt.), National Highways (NH201 & NH217 approved during Vajpayee Govt.), etc, all of them were sanctioned during Non-congress Government in the center. Tracking this record and statistics of last 63 years in post independence period, when congress party has ruled the nation not a single major establishment was ever approved in Kalahandi constituency yet, thus, people who wants to make this region as par with other parts of the nation are totally confused on what does the central Govt. presently store for Kalahandi? Is it under development and spreading of naxallism that Kalahandi has witnessed in past decades? Perhaps, MoEF is not concerend about this as it does not come under its ministry, but it is a concern for Kalahandi and its people in general.

Why do people in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad (your home city), etc would enjoy industrialisation, thus development, and poeple in Kalahandi bear the cost for environment and would be forced to migrate in long run like me?

Why can't be a regulation that envrionment and industries are balanced in all constituencies of India without making no industry zone like Kalahandi always at the receiving end?

MoEF has not yet come with a concrete plan from Niyamgiri and has NOT done any positive contribution towards Kalahandi even for the development of forest and environment. Beside that substantial portion (above 30%) of the land area of Kalahandi comes under forest area and Odisha has the highest percentage of forest area among various states and union territories in India except North eastern block of states and Chhattisgarh. Odisha is next to Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in terms of total area of forest land and has the maximum forest land by both percentage as well as area wise among all the states in eastern part of the country, such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.

As you are aware forest may help to give a better environment to live and facilitate as a living source for large part of tribal population. But, in place like Kalahandi more forest and environment are destroyed by ignorant people than by industries due to lack of useful knowledge and management skill towards environment and natural resources and allied sectors.
Institutions as par with Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) Bhopal may be helpful in this regards to prepare outstanding and talented young person for careers leading to management responsibility in forestry and the forest-related system and meet the need of Indian forestry and forest-related industry and commerce in respect of upto-date information on forestry management through research and consultancy.
Establishment of IIFM in Bhopal was based on forest area in undivided Madhya Pradesh that includes present Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and this institution is doing remarkably well in the national level. Union ministry of environment and forest must establish four such new institutions in those states having large forest area such as one in Kalahandi in Odisha for eastern part, and others in Andhra Pradesh for Southern part, in Uttarakhand for Northern part and in Arunachal Pradesh for North Eastern part of the country.

Since MoEF has acted harshly against development of Kalahandi, an IIFM should be established in Kalahandi in first priorty basis as soon as possible.
Thanking you and best regards
Digambara Patra
--
Dr. Digambara Patra
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
American University of Beirut
P.O. Box: 11-0236, Riad El Solh
Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon
Email: digpatra@gmail.com
http://staff.aub.edu.lb/~dp03/

Courtesy: orissadiary.com

DOSA bats for Vedanta project, inclusive growth in State

Concerned over the "deplorable politics" and the ongoing controversy over the Vedanta bauxite mining in the Niyamagiri hills, a 12-member fact finding team of the Delhi Odia Students' Association (DOSA) had a two-day visit to the Lanjigarh block in Kalahandi district and viewed that the corporates, politicians and NGOs are fighting with each other instead of focusing on the development of the State.

Addressing a Press conference here on Friday, DOSA president Tejeswar Parida said that the poor tribals of the region are the victims of the continuing nasty politics, unholy nexus between the groups with vested

interests and the double standard approach while it requires qualitative improvements in the socio-economic fronts.

Parida alleged that the local administration was far from the required responsiveness and developmental interventions for ensuring better living standards while the Vedanta Aluminum Limited (VAL), claimed to have spent about `100 crore under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), need to come under the scanner of a social audit.

Parida observed that there can be harmony between the industrial development and environmental protection and also observed that the Centre should refrain from its political motive while according the environmental clearance to the Vedanta group. "If Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh could give clearances to the lavoram project and Navi Mumbai airport, why not in Odisha's case," Parida questioned.

To prevent the migration of unemployed youth and trafficking of tribal women to the different parts of country, DOSA advocated for employment generating heavy industries which only Vedanta can solve.

"The functioning of schools, health centre, vocational training, construction of small bridges, check dams for irrigation purpose and formation of women self help groups by Vedanta deserves appreciation," said Parida.

Parida alleged that some of the NGOs and political leaders were creating wrong impression and taking advantage of the ignorance of the tribals.

He further alleged that those vested interests have been exploiting the situation for grabbing huge funds in the name of development while certain NGOs are playing with the sentiments of the tribals by making immotive appeals on the basis of religion, faith and nature. Among others, Manas Mallick, Rajanikanta Das, Sibananda Mishra and Biswaranja Parida were present.

Courtesy: The Pioneer

'Quality Education is must for growth'

The awareness about need of education for growth and in fighting poverty, eradicating deceases like Malaria, Sickle Cell Anemia etc is continuously on the rise in tribal belts of Kalahandi and Rayagada district. People are looking for development to live a better life which is getting reflected with the considerable improvement in attendance and reduction in drop out cases in almost all the schools.
Showing commitment for development in Kalahandi and Rayagada region, Dr. Mukesh Kumar, President and COO, Vedanta Aluminium Limited, Lanjigarh – while inaugurating the new school building of Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir at Ambodala, Rayagada – reiterated that Vedanta is concerned about improving standard of education and health care for the overall development of the region. He further stressed that, now under right to education also it is very much essential that every child must go to the school.
“Unless every child goes to school, Vedanta’s aim of improving educational standard is not fulfilled. To ensure every child get at least pre-school education and to give the children nutritious food Vedanta is supporting nearly 1000 Aganwadi Centres in association with GOO besides running nearly 45 Child Care Centres which aims for 100% enrollment in the Primary School,” said Dr. Mukesh Kumar in the sidelines of the inaugural function of the Additional Classrooms of Saraswati Sishu Vidya Mandir at Ambodala on January 2, 2011.
VAL constructed the classroom under its Corporate Social responsibility of the project ‘Shiksha’ which aims to ensure that each child enjoys his/her right. He also promised to bring the school under Computer Literacy Programme of VAL.
Further showing importance of the need of higher education in the area, he said, “Students of this area now can study science at degree level as Vedanta has opened a Degree level Science College at Lanjigarh which will begin its academic session from 2011 and will enroll students from Lanjigarh, Biswanathpur, Ambodala, Munigura where students give up studies after 10th or +2 due to the unavailability of any good college.”
Education being an important tool in building future, Vedanta has been trying to improve the education sector in Kalahandi and Rayagada district. A Degree Science College, +2 Science College and a DAV Vedanta International School at Lanjigarh are few of the initiatives Vedanta has taken to enhance the educational standard of the region.