Vision & Strategy of Orissa-2021

Bikash Choudhury


Young boy of around twelve years gave the final touches to the glistening replica of Konark temple and jumped to the sea" the ice cool sea water splashed on my face that woke me up from deep slumber, slipped while trying to find feet on the ground, bruising the body; in the process, the nausea vanished completely. The realization dawned about self and about the dream in which I was viewing a brand new Konark Temple being completed and very unusually, me giving a speech to a distinguished audience with a few familiar faces in Govt., Bureaucracy, Opposition and Media fraternity. Strangely, I was speaking on "Vision & Strategy of Orissa-2021"The so called speech goes like this: " Good evening ladies & gentlemen, before I start, let me caution you that some of my Ideas you may find, prima facie unreal & impractical; please don't jump to the conclusion right away. Hang on to my words, please. Later part of my speech you will find sound logic, arguments that will vindicate all my contention in this speech. Please bear with me for some time.
Ladies and Gentle men, our State lost a war about two thousand years ago, but, still, it remains an important land mark in the annals of history. Our ancestors must have something on them that they could coerce Emperor Ashok to adopt & adept 'Budhism'.Those mind and hands built majestic Konark temple must have high degree of competence in Architecture, Engineering, Project Management capability 800 years ago. The cells in our body, our blood veins, our genes and our DNA must have a trace of our ancestors. But, is it not strange- How come we don't know to keep our city clean? How largest malaria related deaths happen in our State? How we still evacuate our sewerage and Industrial waste into our rivers? How our people live on the streets under the open sky and children go to work? There are a few more questions that defy answers but dare not ask. Apparently or perhaps our current civilization has pressed "Control + Delete" in our collective memory and that put us behind twenty States in India in terms of Per Capita Income & general competitiveness.
Ladies&Gentlemen, shouldn't we say enough is enough. Shall we not try to comprehend, where do we wish find ourselves a decade later, by the end of 2021.Ten years from now we must achieve 100% literacy, complete removal of poverty, each family in urban & rural areas must have a decent home, every adult a job, world class road connecting clean & green cities and towns, a complete railway network and reasonable air connectivity, water bodies free from pollution and State having lowest carbon foot print in the World. Can we pack it in a frame of 10 years? Yes, we can; if not, we will never ever do it in any stretch of time. Friends, to accomplish all the cherished parameters may not be easy but, not difficult either. Just we have to work on five broad areas.


1. A powerful brand identity of Orissa.
2. Convert State Govt. organization into a powerful delivery mechanism.
3. Need to develop a powerful culture
4. Rapid Economic growth.
5. A strong value.
'Green Orissa' as brand identity of State would get National attention and International recognition which would later help the State to attract FDI, Best Technology and Top class human resources. We need to achieve cent percent climate change compliance, Comprehensive green legislation that stop and prevent further pollution/ deterioration of precious natural resources, A citizens’ charter for green practises,Emphasis & encouragement on research & development in Green Energy Technology that eventually leading to lowest carbon foot print in the World.
Best Govt. of the World as an internal branding exercise to obtain commitment and enthuse them to work towards the goal of highest standard of public service by unleashing the potential of human resources.
Develop a collective mindset for Innovation-Excellence-Enterprise in all walks of life by creating a very conducive and competitive atmosphere that encourage individual to give only their best. Focusing on clean and green cities and towns could be one of the tools to test the paradigm.
Nee to target a growth rate that doubles the gross state domestic product in every five years. That can be achieved by leveraging co-operative in retail, Agriculture & Agro, Westland development, Micro finance. Empowering the MSME and youth energy, Leveraging cities and towns as economic units, Moving to high value agriculture and also developing Bhubaneswar city as hub of multiple Industries.
Last but not least, instill 'discipline' as most important value in the society that is respected in all walks of life in the State through a sustained public campaign. Friends, I am sure with a concerted effort for a period of ten years, we can achieve our goal and the dream of our leader and Statesman Late Sri Biju Patnaik who wished to see Orissa in the same level of Socio-Economic-Political strength that was achieved during the reign of Emperor Kharvela in Kalinga Empire. Very recently, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore developed his country from a developing to a globally recognized economic power in a span of just twenty five years. If you all wish, Orissa can achieve a prosperous State status in a decade. Can we???”