Manas Jena

Odisha Budget 2025-26 fails to address
-regional and sectoral imbalances
Manas Jena
The budget is an annual financial statement of the state under article 202 of the constitution of India. It shows the approach of the state government towards overall development of the state. Mostly the direction to budget comes from the economic survey report that reflects the status of the economy through various indicators. So while going through the budget allocation the findings of the economic survey must not be overlooked. The total outlay of the Odisha budget 2025-26 is Rs2,90,000 crore. Out of the total budget Rs 2,32,000 is revenue and Rs 58,000 crore is from loan and other sources. Out of total revenue state’s own tax is Rs 1,26 ,000 crore that include both tax and non tax revenue where mining lease revenue is 85 percent of the total non-tax revenue. The share in central tax and central grant is Rs1,05,000 crore.So it is found that Loan, central tax share and grant, and mining revenue dependency is a major feature of the budget of Odisha.
The SGDP of Odisha for the year 2024-25 is Rs 9.5 lakh crore.The vision of Odisha is to become a 500 billion dollar economy by 2036. India will be a 1.5 trillion dollar economy by 2047. Odisha is one of the backward states of India and the gap between national average income and the state per capita income continues, the average per capita income of India is Rs2,00,166(2025) whereas it is Rs 1,82,548 for Odisha. The income tax -return during the year 2022-23 shows that total 12,90,397 persons have filed return but 8,90,889 persons have filed with zero tax liabilities for the same year.It shows only 3,95,508 persons out of a population of more than 4 crores have paid income tax. The percentage of population who paid income tax in 022-23 was 1.6 percent in India and it was 0.89 % for Odisha. The data reaffirms that Odisha continues to be a backward state with a vast majority of poor population. But the double engine has not reflected in addressing that backwardness while the people of Odisha voted to see the double engine impact in both union and state budget.
The union budget 2025-26 has no provision for investment in infrastructure development and special package for Odisha whereas special allocation has been made for other states such as Bihar. The annual survey of Industries shows TN , Maharashtra, Gujarat ,UP and AP are the five most industrialized states having 60 percent of the factories of the country. Though the state is part of the national economy, there is a huge imbalance among the states in terms of income and opportunities. This has been created due to policy decisions of the union government but that process has been continuing as a result of which the backward states such as Odisha gets less priority in terms of infrastructure development and industrialization. The minerals of the state have been used for national and private corporate growth and the low paid labour forces of Odisha have been used as migrant workers in other states. The double engine budget has not guided the state to address such issues in the long run. The Odisha budget could have focused more on industrialization and infrastructure development of the state to generate income and employment with an increase in the capital investment of Rs65, 012 crore. The investment mobilization by state government as reported is about 593 projects in over 20 sectors totaling an investment intent of Rs 16.73 lakh crore with the potential to create 13 lakh employment for youth.But the sector wise plans, outcome and output budget , is not reflected in the budget document linking to employment generation.The plan for land bank and allocation of Rs106 crore in budget to acquire 5 thousand acre of land about 1 thousand acre land each year has no sector wise indication. This is primarily to help the companies not for industrialization. Because Odisha already has many industrial areas with land but without industry . The industrialization in Odisha should be inclusive of all sectors of the economy but not just promotion of extractive industries such as mining. The potentialities in agriculture ,forest , fishing , coast , tourism etc must be equally promoted. It is good that the budget has made good allocation in agriculture but a major portion of it goes to subside to land owning farmers who are mostly absent landlords not the real farmers. The investment could have more on irrigation ,electricity ,cold storage,rural connectivity and other agricultural infrastructure development as a long term plan. The promotion of agriculture based industry ,food processing and marketing of agriculture products ,and forest products with value addition has not been focused .In the social security and skill development side there is no allocation such as pension for farmers ,farm labourers and others employed in agriculture. There is no allocation for land reform such as ensuring tenancy rights of sharecroppers which is vital to agricultural growth. The wage and social security issues of farm labourers have been ignored which has been impacting distress migration from the rural agrarian sector. Currently about 40 lakh migrant workers are outside Odisha but the budget has not announced any scheme for the migrant workers rehabilitation through local employment generation, skill development in agriculture,industry and service sector , rather some steps by the government is to facilitate inter state migration through charity such as seasonal hostels for migrant workers children, etc. It is expected that the budget must address regional imbalances within the state for a holistic and inclusive growth . The resources allocation must be distributive and decentralized with more resources to local self bodies. The recommendation of the state finance commission must be carried out while allocating funds . But a careful observation shows the allocation to development councils such as western ,south and North Odisha and Kondhamal and Gajapati development is very nominal.There should be a dedicated development council for coastal areas also specially to address the issues of coastal poor the agricultural workers and fisher folk and others who are facing livelihood issues with the changing coastal economy with new investments in ports and coastal highways. The persistent natural disaster and climate change impacts mostly affect the coastal poor most which need special attention.
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Protect fishers’ right to livelihood in Odisha
Manas Jena
The fishery development policy of the State has emphasized improving the production of fish through private sector investment, but equal importance has not been attached to the traditional communities in the sector, considering the changing socioeconomic and environmental context and future. There has been no mention about the rights of traditional fishing communities. The recent economic development in the State has affected the fishing community of the State which is a matter of concern for about three per cent of the total population of the State. There are 14 potential sites for development of minor ports on the coast. Along with the coastal highway project from Vizag to Dhigha ,the ports in Gopalpur and Kirtania at Subarnarekha mouth in Baleswar, Dhamara and Chaudami in Bhadrak, and Astaranga in Puri have been developed through private companies. The MoUs by the State with corporate houses for industries , nine small ports in Odisha coast , tourism industry , setting up power and polluting industries in coast and river banks and coastal conservation initiatives are going to impact the people which will be largely displacing coastal communities including fisher folk from their land and water based livelihood. The process will destroy habitations and pave the way for loss of livelihood. The strict implementation of Odisha Maritime Fishing Regulation Act has restricted the access of fishing communities. Odisha has a bounty of nature with sea coast, lake, river and water reservoir of fresh, brackish and marine water which has been a sustainable source of livelihood for communities including fisher folk, fish workers and people engaged in allied activities since generations. Fishing has been a long tradition providing employment, income and food security.Fishing by use of traditional boats engaged the whole family including women and children in different roles. It’s conservatively estimated that a population of about 12 lakh, including 9 lakh in inland and 3.33 lakh in the marine sector, depends on fishing for livelihood. The inland fishermen population is highest in Chilika followed by Ganjam, Khurda, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jajpur and Puri. The marine fishermen population is highest in Baleswar, followed by Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur , Kendrapara, Puri and Ganjam. The fishing population is located in 3,878 villages all over the State out of which 641 are marine and 3,237 are inland villages. The fishery sector contributes about 3 per cent to the GSDP and has potentialities of growth to generate employment and food security. During the year 2023-24, Odisha’s fish production was 11.24 lakh metric tons. In the year 2023-24, about 84.231 MT of fish worth Rs 4000 crore was exported to foreign countries. The fish production during the last five years has substantially increased as well as the consumption . Odisha ranks 6th position in the country in terms of fish production and the per capita consumption of fish has increased with average 18.33 kg per year. NFHS 2019 shows that about 94.75 percent people in Odisha consume fish.
The people engaged in marine fishing in coast of Odisha have been already facing a number of issues in recent times that has induced distress migration and loss of livelihood, due to natural disaster, climate change and capital investment in fishing by the corporate world such as fishing by vessels and trawlers .The production of marine fish has been decreasing due to pollution, natural disaster and change in ecosystems with vanishing mangrove forest. The issue of turtle breeding and low pressure has almost been preventing them from entering the sea for more than six months which is affecting very much the livelihood of the communities depending on the coast for survival. The conservation actions have prevented the fishing community from fishing in national parks and sanctuaries on the coast. The Forest Rights Act, 2006 allows STs and other traditional forest dwellers for fishing rights and use of water bodies in forest areas which is also applicable to fisher folks in mangrove forest areas. The Wild life Protection Act, 2006 protects the rights and occupational interest of the traditional fishing community.The tourism development in port areas of Gopalpur, Puri, Satapada and Chilika lake has restricted traditional fishing rights of the local fishing community .Chilika lake is home to 2.5 lakh fisher folk. The illegal prawn farming by outsiders has created a negative impact over the local fishing community.
The people engaged in small-scale and traditional fishing are facing the problem of pollution in mining and industrial belt where the river and other traditional water sources are found increasingly polluted. This has been evident with traditional fishing communities living on the bank of rivers like Brahamani, Mahanadi and Baitarani having lost their livelihood. The other problems faced by them are indebtedness and distress sale of fish by the local traders in the absence of a supporting price system by the State. The water bodies such as ponds, canals, lakes, wetlands and reservoirs are being restricted to them for fishing as well as they are also being debarred from participation in managing these water bodies. The right to fish and manage the fisheries in inland public water bodies should be given to traditional inland fishing communities for their livelihood as a majority of them are still engaged in fishing for survival. They should be encouraged with fishing based value added activities in their own locality through skill up gradation and capital support. As a majority of the fishermen are land less and homeless, they should be provided land for housing and right over common property resources and supported with credit to their fisheries cooperatives along with infrastructure development in the locality for fish trading. Along with education and skill development, the local youths of the fishing communities need to be encouraged for tourism. While recognizing the natural human rights of traditional fishing communities in the locality , steps should be taken in the light of recommendations given by a committee on fisheries of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and guidelines of work in the fishing convention of ILO must be adopted to improve their living and working conditions.
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Research on inequality relevant to understand trend-
Political institutions’ role vital in economic growth.
Manas Jena

The three US based economist who got Nobel Prize for 2024 for their research on historical economic inequality among post colonial states colonized by Europeans have laid focus on inclusive socio-political institutions practising democratic governance to ensure prosperity of nations.The increasing global inequality ,wealth difference between countries show a clear role of societal institutions that helped in shaping the growth and distribution trajectory of nations. The three researchers say if the institutions are non-inclusive and extractive in nature and managed by elites without political commitment to people then the result is not towards a change for the better. Societies which are not recognizing rule of law and democratic principles over decision making power do not lead to growth.
James A Robinson,University of Chicago and Simon Johnson both are British American and Daron Acemoglu ,Turkish -American, works at MIT, were recognized for their work that unearths the causes of global inequality continuing till to day and identifies the non-economic factors such as societal institutions and political governance including economic systems having much to do with economic growth and prosperity of nations.
Their articles and books -The Colonial origin of comparative development: An empirical investigation(2001), and why Nations fail, the origins of power,prosperity and poverty(2012) show how the different role of post 16th century Europeans colonizers impact the prosperity of nations , how they played a role in building inclusive political and economic systems similar to their own countries for their long term benefit and in the reverse the colonizers also exploited the native population and extracted natural resources for their benefit. The colonizers were more influenced by their mortality rate in those days, the colonies where they could not settle due to a number of factors such as diseases and fear of natives and instead, set up extractive institutions to serve their purpose that impacted growth.
The historical processes in setting up institutions relevant for socio-political and social-economic progress has been very vital. It is being said that non-economic factors are equally responsible for economic growth and the distribution of wealth is also equally important. The democratic institutions which frame the policies and take decisions on behalf of the people are responsible for economic progress.
There are exceptions too such as China having a different political setup may not be similar to other democracies . The research on inequality will help people to think the various causes of inequality and take informed decisions while they are choosing their representative in democracies. India which despite experiencing a long colonial past have managed to move ahead with growth but the internal distribution mechanism in the country is not inclusive because of graded unequal caste based social systems and weak economic policies of successive democratically elected governments which are not radical but mostly influenced to serve upper class social elites and crony capitalism.
There are many forms of inequality in the world that are based on colour ,caste ,social identities ,gender and most importantly unequal ownership over productive assets such as employment , income, land ,education and capital. The wealth and income as well as consumption differences between countries of the world have been increasing.The economic situation during colonial era has not improved much in post-colonial time; rather the new challenges of Neocolonialism has emerged which has been influencing the economic agenda of poor and developing nations in form of unfair trade , dollar dominance exchange rate , debt, and diplomatic interventions. The world is witnessing new forms of political challenges such as war,narrow nationalism ,revival of religious fundamentalism,racism, communalism, xenophobia, emigration and domination of rich nations over the resources of poor countries and increasing interfering role of transnational corporations and financial institutions in the economic affairs of developing nations. The corporations often influence the political agenda and economic policies of a country which is a danger to democracy and in building inclusive societies. Political institutions ,constitutional bodies , are often managed and manipulated to serve the interest of the ruling elites, not the masses who mandate them .
Today ,the income gap between the richest and poorest counties goes unabated and how to reduce the ever growing gap is one of the major challenges.The GDP per capita of the richest 20 percent of the countries of the world is now about 30 times richer than the poorest 20 percent countries. The recent IBRD/ World Bank report poverty ,prosperity and planet report 2024,Pathways out of the poly-crisis -showed that the world’s 26 percent of the poor countries is home to 40 percent of its most poverty stricken people. About 1 in 10 people globally is multidimensionally poor. The report says global poverty reduction has slowed to a near standstill and about 9 percent of the world lives in extreme poverty, living on less than 2.15 dollar as income or consumption per person per day, based on purchasing power parity dollars of 2017. People living in poverty are from rural areas and with less education.The poverty in low income countries is greater than before the COVID-19. If inclusive growth and distribution does not take place it will take decades to eradicate extreme poverty. The WB suggested to improve the income of labour to create more jobs and investment on education and skill along with infrastructure and basic services to overcome the crisis. For a global fight against poverty, equality among nations is highly required.
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Haryana and J&K Polls:
High time India switched over to PR system.
Manas Jena
The two things most important for the health of a democracy are:(1) free and fair elections and (2) equal value of votes. The recent assembly elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir clearly shows that no party has secured mandate of majority of voters, (51 percent of votes) as in Haryana both INC and BJP securing close to 40 percent of vote share each and the rest 20 percent by APP ,JNJP,INLD,BSP,CPIM and others. With a 40 percent vote share BJP got 48 seats but with the same percentage of vote INC got 37 seats and others with 20 percent share have only 5 seats. Jammu and Kashmir the winning INDIA bloc secured a vote share of 37 percent with 49 seats compared to BJP’s 26 percent with 29 seats and the rest parties got 37 percent vote share with only 12 seats.
This gap in vote share and number of seats indicates that the votes pulled by the parties are not equally converted into seats. Therefore all votes are not valued equally in democracy and parties without support of the majority of the voters say 51 percent are easily becoming ruling parties in the name of majority which is virtually minority. We must be seriously looking into such limitations of the present First Past the Post (FPTP) election method being followed in India as it has been generating waste votes making political democracy meaningless as it denies one vote one value.
Considering the coalition nature of politics in the multi-party system of parliamentary democracy and huge diversity among voters our election system must be representative of all voters rather than reflecting the polarized votes in the name of democracy. As polarization helps the majoritarian parties in asserting their power and denying the minority voters choice to send their representative. The underrepresented feelings have been widening the social and political gaps among different socio-political groups and increasing a sense of alienation and negligence which is not good for inclusive democracies. Polarization encourages violence , caste and communal politics and all kinds of corruption to capture votes by mobilizing a section of voters while neglecting the mandate of the majority of voters. It is very often reported that violence and discrimination has been practised against the voters of marginalized sections and religious minorities because in the FPTP system of election you do not need the support of the majority of voters to win elections in a particular constituency .
The makers of modern India build political parties as a viable means to mobilize the people of this country for larger socio-political and socioeconomic transformation and democracy as a method of governance in place of imperialist, feudal- monarchs ,the hegemonic family rule and rule of few classes /caste. Democracy must be visualized in all spheres of socioeconomic and political life of a nation. In democracy the method of election to choose a representative is very vital. Other wise people slowly loss their faith on elections and the value of their vote because their votes does not matter if it is not being converted into seats.With increasing role of political parties in modern democratic governance the representation is very vital to reflect the aspiration of the constituencies to whom the leaders are representative but the present voting system does not help in electing the choice of the majority rather a leader can manipulate to win without support of the majority of voters in the constituency. The supporters of parties especially the left ,socialist and Ambedkarite parties and others those have very less chance to win for number of reasons but they enjoy the support of a sizeable voters in general in their case the voters are being discouraged to vote for them because they find that even if they vote it becomes a waste vote. It discourages parliamentary democracy and encourages other democratic means to make their presence outside parliament due lack of sharing of political power as well as to voice their concerns. Their important voice for the interest of people and nation as whole is not being reflected in parliament or assemblies. In democracy the majority of people must have a say in issues affecting their life and livelihood and they must be heard while making policy and legislation that matters to the people and nation therefore it is equally important to give representation to various parties in parliament in proportion to their vote share which will strengthen democratic dialogue and debate thus democracies.
Along with the fault in the election method ,there has been always usual complain by political parties over free and fair election ,these days it is mostly over EVM and its operation, in the age of IT and AI which can be best used, and role of Election Commission in conducting elections which are equally important,though EC is an independence body created under the provision of the constitution. The misuse of administration, and use of money and muscle power has virtually debarred the poorer and marginalized section , religious minorities and socially powerless candidates to contesting elections.As a result ,winning elections has become easier for moneyed and socially powerful people in the name of party -led democracy.As majority of ruling parties in India are mostly managed by moneyed families and socially powerful caste and dominant religious groups. It has been continuing in India in the grab of constitutional democracy under parliamentary form of government in an election system that itself failed to ensure the representation of all votes in decision making bodies.
The EC ,political parties and Judiciary must come together to decide over such complaints and make sure a very transparent process vital to democracy. The political parties must take up all these issues in parliament and make necessary amendments in Representation of peoples Act 1951, referring constituent assembly debates over election systems, as in the journey of democracy, India must go beyond the traditional ideas and adopt the new appropriate methods of election system to make democracy more representative.

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Odisha one of most atrocity-prone states against SC and STs.
Protective legislation not properly enforced .
Manas Jena/27/09/2024/Bhubaneswar.
The Annual Report for the year 2022 by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment under section 21(4) of POA Act 1989 published in Sept 2024 gives a wider picture about the status of enforcement of one of the important protective legislation for SC and ST communities in the country.
This report is part of a legal obligation of the Union governments to place on the table of the both houses of parliament for annual periodic review that concerns the social protection of socially discriminated communities constituting 25 percent of the population of the country.
The report says in the year 2022 in order of number of cases the top five states having more number of cases booked under POA Act in conjunction with IPC are UP,Rajasthan,MP ,Bihar and Odisha. Odisha had more cases than Maharashtra,AP,Karnataka,Telangana,TN,Harayana,Gujarat and Kerala. These 13 states have about 98 percent of the total cases against SCs. The top five states with the most cases of atrocities on STs were MP, Rajstan ,Odisha ,Maharashtra, and Telangana out of 13 states that had about 99 percent of the total cases. It is reported that at all India levels the number of cases has been increased from 53,886 in 2020 to 62,602 in the year 2022. About 95 percent of the cases are pending in courts and the percent of cases ending in conviction was 32 percent for the year 2022.The conviction percent was 40 in the year 2020 where as the annual disposal of cases is only 6 percent.
Why are the atrocities against SC and STs in Odisha so high in comparison to other states? And what it indicates ?
There were 2902 cases of SCs and 773 cases of STs , a total of 3675 cases, registered during the year 2022 in Odisha.The state government has identified atrocity prone areas in 18 districts out of a total 30 in the state .
Referring the MSJE’s report on year 2022, let's have a look into the institutional mechanism of the state of Odisha and how it is being functioned to address such sensible issues that matter a sizeable population of the state.
The government of Odisha is supposed to prepare an annual report to table in state assembly for a periodic review of the status of the enforcement of POA Act in the state as a matter of legal obligation but no such report is available in public domain. The state vigilance and monitoring committee headed by chief minister must meet twice in a year but the Ministry report says there was no meeting of state vigilance and monitoring committee in the year 2022.It was a general observation that during last 24 years of BJD rule in the state there was no regular meetings to discuss such issues at apex level even as a matter of legal obligation. Principal secretary SC and ST development department is the nodal office of the state as per rule -9 of the POA Act.
At district level there have been 30 numbers of district level vigilance and monitoring committees having collector and district magistrate as chairperson. It is a very important body which suppose to review the cases and monitor its progress to take the cases into its logical end as per procedure of criminal justice administration. It is reported that 18 meetings were held in 30 districts during the year 2022.
There are also 58 sub-divisional level committees constituted in 30 districts of Odisha but unfortunately only one meeting of such a committee was held .
As per the provision of law the government has to provide immediate relief and rehabilitation to the victims of atrocities within 7 days but it is reported that no such relief was provided within seven days though it was done in the case of 2288 persons later than 7 days.
The police administration has a most critical role in such cases as in some states there are special police stations to deal with such cases .A National helpline Against Atrocities on SC and ST(NHAA) is functioning for prompt responses.The states were issues guidelines for investigating officers with a hand book compilation of government orders ,memos,circular instructions on POA Act is provided to SPs.
A state level SC/ST protection cell under the charge of Additional director general of police and Human Rights protection cell in the state police headquarter are in place as per rule. It is reported that awareness programme were conducted for 18 police officials and 62 other officials to sensitize them but this has not been reflected in the submission of a timely charge sheet which is due within 60 days , as it shows in most cases the investigation and charge sheet has been submitted later than 60 days. This delay in investigation and filing of charge sheets affects the judicial process in access to justice under criminal justice administration.
The Odisha government has 3 exclusive special courts for speed trial of such offence at Cuttack ,Balasore and Balangir have been setup along with 51 district session courts and additional session courts have been designated as special courts in the state. There are 51 special public prosecutors in special courts and 3 exclusive special public prosecutors in 3 exclusive special courts have been appointed by the government along with facilities of legal aid to victims. The report says during the year 2022 , 839 number of SCs and 529 number of ST were provided legal aid.
The Ministry of social justice and Empowerment ,Ministry of Tribal affairs and Ministry of Home affairs are jointly responsible for enforcement of this POA Act and MSJE has provided a central assistance of Rs2145.8 lakh to Odisha for its effective implementation. But unfortunately the monitoring bodies under institutional mechanism and high powered committees under the provision of the rules have been largely dysfunctional in Odisha which has been affecting the process of access to justice of the most vulnerable section of population.
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