Curtain Raiser - Day 1

The Orissa trail started with an inaugural ceremony where participants from Orissa, West Bengal and Bihar got together at the CYSD campus Bhubneshwar. 

Some distinguished experts were present to start the Yatra. Joe Madiath, as part of the BASIN-SouhAsia team welcomed the participants and gave his views on rural habitat and its provision to the needy. 

Ms Mona Anand gave a presentation on the objectives of the Yatra and its genesis. This was followed by a presentation by Ms Chitra from Gram Vikas on the policy imperatives for the development of rural habitat in Orissa. 

Mr Kamal Misra from Orissa State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) highlighted the need for adapting the government schemes for rural habitat to the local socio economic and climatic conditions. 

Mr Jagadananda, Chief information commissioner of Orissa gave an inaugural address and recounted from his years’ of experience in the development sector and gave an inspiring speech on the direction ahead. He lauded the objectives of the Yatra and suggested that the recommendations for the rural habitat policy be followed by Right to Information (RTI) pleas from Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) to add momentum in the government machinery. 

Mr N.M. Prusty addressed the need to an integrated approach to rural development. The inaugural ceremony concluded with the participants sharing their expectations from the journey over the next few days. 

The Yatra began with the journey to Ganjam. On the way the group passed through the beautiful countryside. The journey was marked by folk songs, fun and games and frequent peeing stops! 

Looking forward to the next day! 

Akshay Goyal

All can be better!!! 

The Orissa trail was set off by the guiding lights for the development sector in Orissa – Mr Joe Madiath, Mr Jagadanand, Dr Kamal Lochan Mishra, Mr N.M. Prustyji and Dr Alam. The inaugural session turned out to be a passionate exchange of ideas on what needs to change and how this change can be triggered. The workshop could easily have gone on for an entire day as the guiding lights shared very similar concerns to do with rural habitat development in the country and in Orissa. There was a consensus on the need for pointed and strategic efforts for ironing out glitches in the state sponsored housing delivery processes across various stages  - identification of families, access to state assistance/credit, access to value for money services and building materials and completion of the house itself. The absence of an integrated approach to habitat planning, design and implementation was conspicuous in current approaches. 

Mr Jagadanand, the Information Commissioner, Government of Orissa  exposed the yatris to the potential of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in addressing issues around corruption in the state sponsored housing/habitat schemes  in relation to both access and quality of habitat. The potential opportunity within the RTI Act for furthering the conviction of the Lok Awaas Yatra with various ministries and department was also discussed as a tool for advocacy for state policy support. 

Dr Mishra pointed to the critical links between safety, sustainability, traditional wisdom and the role of panchayats in the habitat context. 

Close interaction at the Prasar Bharati hostel, the night before and the high energy of the inaugural workshop was enough to fuel the take off of the Orissa trail; as a small group of yatris collects to go to the Sunderbans.  All can be better, let us set out to learn how this can be done! 

Mona Anand