Community Leaders: The 'Queen-Bees' of Development Process in Orissa

Since the formation of a separate state, Orissain this type of communication is that they are
continues to be symbol of abysmal poverty andalways using the mast powerful channel (i.e.
backwardness. Acute underdevelopmentface-to-face communication) by which they can
combined with the onslaught of natural calamitiesget all the opportunities to convince the rural tribal
has made the life of the Oriya people miserable.community. Basically at the time of election, the
While droughts and floods are regular invaders,role of community leaders is more visible. Because
cyclones and super cyclones make their routinevoting behaviour of the backward classes totally
visits, taking heavy tolls. Besides all thisdepends on the community leaders, who changed
misfortunes, nature has blessed the state mineralstheir voting intention during the course of the
to fill up the gap. Orissa is the richest state incampaign.Starting form rural development to
minerals.The state, two-thirds of the land surfaceAIDS awareness programme in the state, the
of which comprise pre-cambrian rocks, possessescommunity leaders play a crucial role in the
98 per cent of the country's chromite reserves,implementation of any policy or programme in
71 per cent of its bauxite, 33 per cent of its ironOrissa. Without help of this influential group, it will
ore and 32 per cent of its manganese resources.be very difficult for the government or any
Orissa has vast reservoirs of natural resources toindividual group or any non-government
spur industrial growth and development. Its fertileorganization (NGO) to enter into the locality. Then
land, water resources, mineral wealth, longit is the responsibility of the government to take
coastline and forest resources are great assets.the necessary step to convince the community
Still we are lagging behind to utilize the mineralsleader by which they come forward to extend
for the development of Orissa. There are manytheir hand to help the government in the
prime causes, which are the major hurdles fordevelopment process. When we are talking about
socio-economic development of the state.development we cannot ignore industrialization
Community leaders are playing major role inbecause directly it boost the state economy. As
every step of development process and theywe are rich in manpower and mineral, the
have the capacity to eradicate all the hurdles ingovernment has taken the first major step to
the grass root level.Orissa has a population of 32invite major global giant for utilizing the
million with a high percentage of scheduled tribesreddish-gery iron ore.Taking the advantages of
and scheduled castes, approximately 24% of thethe global demand for steel, the Orissa
total population belonging to 62 different ethnicgovernment has opened the door for the steel
communities, and are mostly backward. Aboutgiants to invest in Orissa. During the course of
87% of the population lives in the villages. Thetime, the Biju Janata Dal-BJP alliance government
Oriyas dwelling in rural Orissa are happy in theirsigned 43 MoUs with private companies for the
small world. Enthusiasm and expectation are thesetting up of as many greenfield steel plants. The
two less concerned words for them. This ruralState government's Steel and Mines Department
people are very simple and easily captured byestimates the investment in these steel plants to
anyone who attach emotionally with them.the tune of Rs.1,37,157.85 crores. The areas that
Though they have very minimal exposure to anywould witness mining of iron ore and the setting
media, so the community leaders act as the onlyup of new steel plants and captive power plants
source of information. They are less concernedare Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Jajpur, Dhenkanal and
about the politics, business, media and religion.Angul districts, which are some of the most
They are very reluctant to accept any sort ofunderdeveloped districts in the State. At the
information, which are not directly related to theirhigher level, the government has completed all the
day-to-day life. The community leaders are playingformalities to convert Orissa into the No.1 State in
the role of opinion leaders and able to influencethe country by quickening the pace of
the rural Oriyas because they are well known,industrialization. But when we consider about the
respected, and trusted person for them. The ruralground reality for setting up of huge steel
public relies upon opinion leader within their peercompanies, we have taken aback because of the
group(s) to provide reliable information. The localobstacles came to the site at different stages.
leaders are used the masses as their weapon.In aThe recent Kalinga Nagar firing has killed the spirit
state like Orissa, community leaders have aof Industrialisation. This is not a new incident for
strong influence. Through day-to-day personalthe people of Orissa.Whenever and wherever any
contacts, they influence others in matters ofindustry plans to lay down the foundation stone,
decisions and opinion formation. Due to lack ofthe first and foremost outcome of every project
information on a particular issue, the backwardis the same. Either they abandon the project or
community is not in a position to take anydivert the investment amount to upgrade the
decision. They have always been depending onestablished project. Tata steel's earlier proposal to
community leaders to reach on any decision,set up a ten million tonne steel project at
which may vary from family matters toGopalpur in Ganjam district had also run into
international issues. In the reverse side, the tribaltrouble with police opening fire at Sindhigan in the
community has always opened to share all theproject area on August 7, 1997. Two women had
information without thinking the outcome becausebeen killed in stampede caused by the police
they are thinking that they are sharing personalaction after which the company shelved the
matters to a trusted person who can help him atproject. The steel project at Gopalpur in Ganjam
the needed time. These leaders are more awaredistrict proposed by Tata did not take off after
of the requirements of the rural public.In manyresidents refused to move out.If you go deeply
case, the community leader takes this advantageinto the core issue, you can find community
to revolt against the local administration. Theleaders had conspired to create unrest in the
community leaders generally come form a upperindustrial area. They have masterminded the
social, economic or occupational level and theyentire process and provoked the tribal community
have a special respect in the community. Theyby meeting personally or public meeting. The
are more informed about political and social issuescommunity leaders are always backed by political
as compared to other persons in a atmosphereparties and influenced by the political leaders. Now
where the local people will get fillip on the benefitstime has come to think about the state. Above
of the industrialization. The local people can feelthe personal benefits of any particular person, or
the breeze of industrialisation in the form ofparticular community or any particular party, we
house, healthcare, education and employmentshould think about the welfare of our state. This
facilities. Once the local tribal community convincesis the equal responsibility of government and
on the issue of industrialization, they will fight forevery Oriya to participate in the development
the government. Every one knows it is a tediousprocess. Particularly the community leaders should
task but not an impossible the community. Theyuse their third sense before forwarding any step
grasp information form different sources; theytowards destruction, which leads the state
read newspapers and magazines; they watch thebackward direction. Day by day our position
coverage of different issues relating to theirbecome worsen in every aspect of life. When
society, nation etc. by the broadcast media.Whengovernment is planning to take any step for the
they exchanged the information to their follower,welfare of the state, it is better to support and
they are always diluted the original message withabolish all the hurdles in the way to development.
his personal views. And the most important part