WITH ODISHA High Court declaring land acquired for the Vedanta University, a Stanford-kind university ‘illegal’, the Anil Agrawal Foundation’s mega project has virtually come to a standstill. The ruling has created mixed reactions both at the political and intellectual circles as future of the state is at stake.
The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government, which enjoys political hegemony in the state in the absence of a strong and well organized opposition party, has once again come under furious attack from all quarters for giving green signal to the UK-based group by passing the Vedanta University Bill in the assembly in July 2009 and subsequently helping them to acquire 4500 acres of proposed 6892 acres of land on Puri-Konark marine drive.
Tough-speaking Naveen known for his hyper dream of taking the state tothe top of industrial map in the country did a very good PR exercise when he faced media after the HC ruling. His reaction was normal as if the order had no ramifications. He just said his government would study the order before taking any decision. He must take prompt decision and right action, otherwise Odisha may face the same fate as the Tata Nano-West Bengal row.
Vedanta, which is facing the public resents in Odisha in the wake of serious revelations by various ministries over its mining project in Niyamgiri hills in Kalahandi district, hinted that the university project may go to other states like Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka. Karnataka has already sent feelers to Vedanta chief Anil Agarwal assuring him all support if he decided to relocate the project to the state.
For all good reasons, the Vedanta University project is vital for the development of the state. It is not because of the fact that it would be one of the largest universities in the world and glorify the state at the international level or attract foreign tourists, or provide job opportunities to the locals. It is question of foreign direct investment. It is the matter of rapid industrialization through private companies.
With much-needed efforts, the state has managed to attract national and foreign companies such as POSCO, Vedanta, Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), Pradhan Steel and Power Private Limited, Atha Mines Private Limited and Tecton Ispat Private Limited , Isagro Asia Agro Chemical Private Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of Isagro SpA of Italy , Kolkata-based Shyam Group, Sahara Group, Aditya Birla Group , Jindal Stainless Ltd (JSL) and Arcelor Mittal.
These companies are yet to start their operations in the eastern region - the region has its dubious distinction of poverty, malnutrition and starvation deaths. These projects are significant for the all-round development of the state, whose destiny has been sleeping over the decades. More than 40 percent of the state’s population is in BPL list, which is highest in India. The per capita income of the state is Rs 5,747 against the national average of Rs 11,013. The average monthly per capita consumer expenditure is Rs 399 in rural areas and Rs 757 in urban areas, compared with Rs 558 and Rs 1,052 at the national level, respectively. Ironically, most of the projects, most notably POSCO and Vedanta (mining project) are struggling to gain momentum, mainly due to political differences between state and centre.
Coming back to the Vedanta University project, the government should not overlook the concerns raised by the social and environmental stakeholders as it affects a larger section of the society. At the same time, it should not allow the project move out the state. The need of the hour is to bring a striking balance between industrial development and environmental sustainability.
For those reasons, the Naveen government should wake up and find an alternative, maybe in form of reducing the size of land or shifting the project to some other parts of the state for the benefit of all.
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