The reopening of Lord Jagannath’s temple in Puri to devotees at the beginning of this month, a full three weeks after it had to be reshut due to the raging third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, was followed by a lot of other positive developments in Odisha.
Just two days later, the state government announced that all institutions providing education at the level of class 8 or higher would resume physical classes from coming Monday (February 7) while those catering for kindergarten to class 7 shall also be able to get back to offline teaching from the subsequent week (February 14).
With the decision being applicable to both government and private educational institutions irrespective of the medium of instruction, the young lot can – at long last – expect to enjoy the countless benefits of student life the way it was in the pre-pandemic times. While online education has undeniably been nothing short of a boon through these waves after waves of Covid-19 that the world has suffered over the past two years, it can never really take the place of traditional classroom teaching. The kind of socialisation and character-building experience that a school, college or university environment provides simply has no comparable substitute in the Web world.
But before that, on the very day that the Lord’s doors were flung open to the public, the Union Budget 2022 was also presented, in which it was announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had allocated Rs 9,734 crore for railway projects in Odisha. As Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw rightly noted a couple of days ago, this is the highest ever Central allocation for the development of the railway sector in the state.
Hopefully, both the Centre and state government can get past the typical hurdles of land acquisition and forest clearance this time around to put the development of the sector in the state well and truly on track. Because that will go a long way in further boosting Odisha’s credentials as one of the nation’s top industry- and investment-friendly destinations.
The Naveen Patnaik administration on its part, of course, has been leaving no stone unturned for that goal. Its crackdown on corruption – both in the public and private sector – seems to be intensifying over time, with almost every day seeing investigative and law enforcement agencies conducting raids on the premises of businessmen and government officials (at all levels) before due action is taken against those found guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
While the Look Out Circular issued the day before yesterday (February 3) against the absconding managing director of Sambandh Finserve Private Limited for his alleged involvement in a Rs 100 crore fraud case has made for one of the most sensational news stories in the state, the most recent one involves the arrest of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board chief engineer by vigilance sleuths for possession of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. These two instances are among numerous others that have happened over the past few years (even throughout the post-pandemic period).
In addition to this, the state government’s clampdown on narcotics and wildlife traffickers has been making headlines with increasing frequency. With corruption and law and order firmly in control, Odisha has thus become a fertile ground for all-round and fast-track development.
Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik know something rather well: God helps those who help themselves.
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