A Year On, a Look at the BJP Government in Odisha

On the completion of his first year in office, Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi claimed in an interview with The Hindu that 20 years of Naveen Patnaik’s politics had been replaced by one year of development.

The veracity of such an assertion should be assessed by looking at Patnaik’s track record of governance. By vastly improving the implementation of the public distribution system, Patnaik had enabled 80% of the people living below the poverty line to access rice at Re 1 per kg. This, apart from addressing hunger and poverty, successfully increased their productive capacity.

Effective implementation of the pre-school feeding scheme under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) increased the weight of children before they stepped into school. A study on the project by economist Reetika Khera testified to the better performance of children who benefitted from the scheme.

A study by Jean Drèze and Khera found that the reach of maternity benefit schemes, specifically the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMKVY), was relatively better in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Odisha as compared to other states. The study pointed out that these states fared better because they had specific programs that supplemented the national scheme, leading to higher coverage rates. According to Odisha's Economic Survey, maternity benefits covered about 64% of all births in 2021-22 during Patnaik’s rule.

Pension facilities for women and mid-day meals for primary school children during Patnaik’s regime were also successful. In contrast, the Majhi government wasted three months in deciding if eggs are to be served in schools.

Involvement of seven million women in the flagship Mission Shakti programme enabled them to get access to government-sanctioned money, allowing them to emerge as entrepreneurs in rural areas. Old-age pension for the elderly helped vast numbers of the elderly from underprivileged sections get access to financial assistance.

Twenty four years of Patnaik's regime brought Odisha out of acute poverty, while a year of Majhi regime has ushered in a period of communal mobilisation that has proved to be a bane for the common people. Communal riots were stoked In Odisha’s Bhadrak, Balasore and Sambalpur – home to a sizeable Muslim population – after the Majhi government took office. 

Hindutva forces have also begun forcing people not to sell fish in local markets on Tuesdays as, in some areas, the day is observed as the deity Hanuman’s birthday. In Odisha, people usually eat fish and other non-vegetarian food on all days of the week. 

The Majhi government's dithering on rice procurement has also come at a cost, with farmers unhappy with the government. In the summer season, they avoided growing a particular variety of rice, locally known as Dalua. They feared that the government may not buy their produce. This adversely affected the wage of agricultural labour. 

The crisis of unemployment has also made things worse. The anger of urban youth against the Majhi government is palpable because of its partisan behaviour towards Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers in its recruitment policy for teaching posts in schools and colleges. Such partisanship in job recruitment was unheard of during Patnaik’s regime.

The Subhadra Scheme announced by the Majhi government was meant to provide every eligible woman Rs 50,000 over a period of five years. But this author found that the implementation has excluded several women and the promised amount has not been disbursed. 

The BJP won the assembly and Lok Sabha elections on the plank of Odia asmita or Odia pride. Ironically, that very pride has taken a hit over the past year. During the 2024 elections, a narrative was created that the treasure of Jagannath temple in Puri, known as ratna bhandar, had been emptied, with gold and silver allegedly taken to Tamil Nadu. However, now it is being alleged that gold and silver have been taken to Gujarat in the past year. Such allegations have created a perception among people that the Majhi government has not been able to safeguard the pride of Odisha, which it claimed the Patnaik government had severely compromised.

The law and order situation in the state too has deteriorated during the past year. 

The spread of Hindutva in the state has also brought back the domination of the Brahmin priests. Earlier, festivals like Savitri Amavasya and Pana Sanskrati were organised by people without the intervention of priests. However, today a gradual push towards making priests the custodians of many festivals can be felt. Odisha has started regressing by allowing priests to dominate cultural life.

During the past one year, many temples have been constructed by Hindutva forces on forest land owned by the state government, allege locals. Right-wing groups allegedly colluded with the forest department to build these shrines. The Majhi government has also come under fire for selling sacred land near the Gandhamardan mountains to the Adani group.

In rural Odisha, there are efforts to push back against the Hindutva agenda that is being spread in the name of sanatan dharma. Their resistance comes from the fact that real socio-economic issues are quickly being sidelined by the Majhi government.

Radha Kant Barik was a professor at Indian Institute of Public Administration.

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