OrissaMatters

Come June 05, the World Environment Day, Discovery Channel will telecast Climates First Orphans, a documentary produced by Orissas Nila Madhab Panda under the Environment Film Fellowship, 2005 of the, United Kingdom Creating Tomorrow Programme, revealed Panda at Bhubaneswar on May29.

It is an attempt to look through the lens at the plight of Orissas coastal people, suffering as they have been from rise of the sea level due to global warming, as Panda has conceived and as subject matter specialists have informed him during interviews. During last five years only, around 20,000 people in coastal Orissa have been rendered homeless, it is estimated.

The Documentary that carries first hand description of how habitats have submerged under the sea from affected people vis—vis the views of scientists is a 22-minute exposure of a continuous calamity. It has already been invited to the Wildscreen Film Festival (Green Oscar) in the UK and the Planet in Focus Film Festival in Toronto.

For the first time, we will see a film that touches the subject at the most humane level, with real victims accepting their defeat at the hands of Mother Nature, Panda claimed.

This reminds, however, of Saswat Pattanayaks in-depth on-the-spot reports in Asian Age during super cyclone which culminated in the first ever documented book on the subject captioned speakingly by Sri Pattanayak as Fall and the Rise wherein he has stressed that though devastated by the sea, people of Orissa have never accepted defeat, but have arose again and again in their peculiar manner of matching with the Nature.

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

This year, it is a boy from Bhubaneswar that has secured the highest position in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class X examinations obtaining a record 98.06 per cent of marks. He is Shubhankar Mahapatra of DAV Public School, Chandrasekharpur.

Bagging 493 out of total marks of 500, Shubhankar has secured 99 percent in mathematics, 100 in science, 96 in Sanskrit and 98 in social science.

His School has achieved new distinction amongst the States Public Schools by registering an 83.74 success rate as against Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya of Kendrapada, which stands second with an overall performance record of 83.04 percent. The St Xavier High School, Bhubaneswar stands next with 81.75 percent in successful performance.

Born to Karunakar Mohapatra, an employee with the State Bank of India, on 07 August 1990, Shubhankar holds his mother, who is a housewife, as his inspiration and nurtures a dream to be a physician in future.

orissamatters.com wishes him all success in life.

M.Tunga Samanta from Bangalore

The wonder boy Buddhia Singh, despite leg-pulling by Orissa Government, has made his presence registered in the hearts of appreciating people of Bangalore on 27 May 2006, by receiving felicitations from the Press Club of Bangalore.

The Press Club, according to its Secretary Sadashiva Shenoy, had invited Buddhia Singh to offer him the felicitation in recognition of his splendid world record.

Had Orissa Government not mislead the Karnatak Government in the name of Orissa High Court, Buddhia would have demonstrated a marathon from the State Assembly Building to the Governors House, for watching which the entire city was eagerly waiting, innumerable fans of the boy thronging the roadsides.

The second explanation the Police offered was that the boy had attracted so many admirers that it seemed impossible to manage traffic if the run was allowed.

A disheartened public had no words to condemn the Orissa Government conspiracy. However Secretary Shenoy said, the Press Club of Bangalore is not a sports organization. It was not going to offer Buddhia in manner of a sports event. The Club had invited him to accept felicitations for the amazing achievement he has made and Orissa Government cannot stop the felicitation.

In reciprocating peoples love, Buddhia offered a demonstration of his running style within the campus of the Club.

MANA LAGE, ISILIYE MEYN DOUDTAHOON, Buddhia told his Bangalore fans.

To the media he made it clear that if people want, he can run any distance in Bangalore. He was at a loss to understand as to why the Orissa Government is after him like a Saitan or evil spirit. I want to rise by running but they want to ruin me by banning, he lamented.

Answering the media, his foster father and mentor Biranchi Das described Orissa Government attitude as detrimental to development of talent and declared that he shall do every legal thing possible within his command to build up Buddhia as one who can earn Olympic Gold for India

He condemned the reactionary mindset of people in power. Because of this sort of leg pulling attitude, we have not yet had an Olympian marathoner, he said.

When reminded of P. T. Ushas disapproval of Buddhia running long distance marathon, Das asked, Is she a marathoner?

In the evening of 27 May 2006, as reports reached this side, Buddhia accepted felicitation from Karnatak Chief Minister Mr. H. D. Kumaraswamy to reverberating applause from admirers in the packed to the capacity auditorium. Along with him, Master Kishan, recognised as the yougest cinema director, was also felicitated.

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Additional District Judge of Khurda Mr. Manoranjan Pattanayak has called for case records to see if Dr. P.C. Panda, Head of Surgery Department and Dr. B.C. Kar, his associate and Specialist in Surgery in the prestigious Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar could be enlarged on bail from the jail custody they are remanded to by the Citys Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate on 26 may 2006. Both of them were caught red-handed by Vigilance sleuths while looting an indoor patient in the guise of fees.

The matter is horrific. It reveals to what extent doctors may go in playing havoc with human life.

A 24 years old lady patient Ms. Truptirani Pati was operated upon on 25 May 2006 by both the doctors for appendicitis, her sister Prativa and brother Dipak waiting outside the Operation Theater along with their mother Biraja, the widow of Jayanta Pati of Jajpur.

Dr. Panda came out of the OT and asked: have you brought the rest of the money? Dipak begged for a little more time. Pay the rest of the money right now or you shall be responsible for any damage done to your sister, the doctor said. At that time, Trupti was on the operation table and stitches were yet to be taken up. The doctor was hinting at what would happen if his fees are not paid.

Dipak begged him to proceed with stitching as he was going to fetch money from a friend who was willing to lend the rupees. Dr. Panda asserted that till then, the patient wont be released from the OT and so saying he started for the car waiting in the campus wherein Dr. Kar was waiting for him to go out to conduct operations in private clinics. Dipak handed him over the money but no sooner than he grabbed it, his hands were under the grip of vigilance.

The vigilance trap was laid at the behest of Parliamentarian Mohan Jena who had lent a thousand of Rupees to Dipak after coming to know of their plight. Dipaks father was a friend of Jena. But the Parliamentarian did not stop there. He prevailed upon the Vigilance authorities to trap the doctor. Accordingly a lady officer of vigilance police had accompanied Prativa in guise of a family friend and had tape recorded Dr. Pandas version.

Trupti was admitted in the Capital Hospital on 23 May 06. Dr. Panda had demanded Rs.6000.00 for the operation even though as a government doctor he was not entitled to charge this money. The family was nose-led to pay an advance and the rest was to be paid on the day of operation.

Caught while accepting the illegal fees, Dr. Panda and Dr. Kar have of course been remanded to judicial custody. When their appeal comes up next week, they may or may not be enlarged on bail. Everybody knows how delayed is justice in India. It may take a very long time to punish these extortionist doctors, notwithstanding them being witnessed by the vigilance wing. It may so happen that the case may end in their acquittal. This is not impossible in our system.

This is an ailing system.

In this ailing system we have been made to accept that an accused is innocent till proved guilty. Courts are granting bails to accused persons and then the cases are made to limp. As long as the cases continue to be limping, the accused, howsoever terrible he may be, goes on being treated as innocent. Even people who have committed crime against the country have enjoyed and/ or are enjoying high political positions simply because cases against them are limping. And, shamelessly they are asserting that they are not guilty as long as the judiciary has not finally held them to be guilty. Its remedy lies in fixing up specific dates for disposal of the cases where bails are granted, but that is not being done. This is helping the accused in evading punishment while the victim (may be an individual, may be a group or may be the State) continues to suffer. This has made a farce of our justice system. We can reverse the trend if we love our motherland by a simple method.

I am suggesting this method taking the aforesaid two doctors as starting points. If you happen to peruse this article, please cogitate and come forward with your opinion.

In my opinion, if the two doctors are enlarged on bail, they should be debarred from medical practice till they are not declared innocent by the court.

In saying thus, I mean to say that bails should be interpreted as provisional judicial determination that the accused is guilty till proved innocent. It should literally mean that the court which grants the bail has found the accused prima facie guilty; but has granted bail to the accused so that he or she can convince the court that accusation is incorrect. Without this interpretation of bail prosecution has become a farce.

If the two apprehended doctors are debarred from medical practice and their registration as doctors remains suspended till they prove their innocence, the doctors who are eager to prey upon patients would be bound to think twice before indulging in the ghastly act. And, most importantly, a new interpretation of bail as found guilty till proved innocent would begin to rectify the judicial malady that has jeopardized the Country.

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Had there been not a Chief Minister like Naveen Patnaik, had there been not a Child Development Minister like Pramila Mallik, had there been not a Cabinet like the incumbents in Orissa, Buddhia Singh, the darling child of this splendid soil, who, at the age of around four, has earned the epithet – The Wonder Boy – by establishing himself as the best youngest marathon runner of the world, would have been enjoying the best possible support from the State Government in pursuit of newer records. But, instead of getting encouragement, the wonder boy is facing the nastiest barbs the Minister in charge of child development has been contriving. The Chief Minister and other members of his Cabinet are silent.

It is a shame. But it is true.

Her initial attempts to bridle Buddhia having failed, her obnoxious uttering against Buddhias source of inspiration Biranchi Das having taken up for penal action, her quarrelsome conduct having attracted scanning eyes, Ms. Mallik has tried to look like legal by using an apparatus under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (hereinafter called the Act). Under the Rules framed by Orissa for implementation of this Act, called the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Orissa Rules, 2002 (hereinafter called the Rules), she has constituted a Child Welfare Committee (hereinafter called the Committee) for Khurda District with magisterial powers. Ms. Mallik has wanted us to believe that the ban she has imposed on Buddhias run is as per recommendations of this Committee. And, she has threatened to send every body to Jail whosoever contravenes the orders of this Committee.

Ms. Malliks negative activism in the matter of Buddhia has generated litigations and meretricious tears of PROFESSIONAL human-rightists have eclipsed thinking process of many.

Without any prejudice to any litigation pending in any court having Buddhia at the crux, let me look at the legality of subjecting Buddhia to the jurisdiction of the Committee and the resultant proceedings therein that has been used by the Minister to bridle the marathon wonder.

As I read the Law, I find Buddhia does not come within the purview of the Act. Following ratification of the resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child on the 11th December, 1992, Government of India framed the Act in 2000, after eight years of the said ratification. Govt. of Orissa framed the Rules two years thereafter. The Act made it clear that its application shall be limited to two types of children: (1) Juveniles in conflict with Law and (2) Children in need of care and protection. Buddhia does not belong to either of the types. He is never in conflict with Law. On the other hand, he is well protected and taken proper care of by his foster father and mentor Biranchi Das. Not only physically nurtured in the best possible manner, he has been admitted into the best available public school in Bhubaneswar, the Buxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar English Medium School. So the Act is never applicable to him.

When Buddhia was perishing in abysmal poverty in a Bhubaneswar slum, the Act was not invoked; when deprived by death of father he was sold away to a rag-trader by the helpless mother, the Act was not invoked; when the rag-trader had engaged the four year old boy in the tortuous work of rag-picking, the Act was not invoked: but when he has been rescued by Biranchi Das, when he has been adopted as a son by Biranchi Das, when he has been made to occupy a new domain in the world of sports by Biranchi Das, when he has become so stable that he has surpassed all the Ministers of Orissa in popularity contest because of Biranchi Das, when he has become so charismatic that thousands of people irrespective of caste, class, gender and age are seen thronging the roads to have a glimpse of him, their hero, because of Biranchi Das, when he has taken admission in the best of public school for his education because of Biranchi Das, when a well known technical education Institute that enjoys a deemed to be university status has appointed the mother of Buddhia so that she shall no more be financially crippled and therefore, both in paternal home and in the foster home Buddhia has become well stable and well protected and when he has become cult figure to whom the definition of Child in need of care and protection can never apply, the lady Minister, out of envy and inferiority complex, as discussed earlier in these pages, has used her powers to fetter the boy by misuse of the Act.

It is agonizing that when the Act is not applicable to Buddhia, the Committee constituted by the Minister has mentally tortured Buddhia by arresting him through armed and uniformed police of the State in the guise of magisterial power.

Use of uniform by police while dealing with a child being prohibited under the Laws, I had wanted to know from the Police Authorities as to how the police forgot this prohibition in regard to Buddhia. I was told that Section 42 of the Rules, which stipulates that while dealing with juvenile/child under the provisions of the Act or these Rules, the police officer shall wear plain clothes and not the police uniform, also says that at the time of arrest the police can use uniform.

Under whose orders they arrested the boy?

Under orders of the Committee in which magisterial powers are vested, I was told.

I saw the warrant of arrest issued by the Committee u/s 31 read with sec.54(i)of the Act and 87 of Cr.P.C. requiring the S.P. for causing arrest of the child and for production of the child before the special medical board——-at 11 AM of 5 May 2006. The orders of the Committee being judicial and therefore being beyond my scope, I am not dealing with it.

But what I want to share with fellow citizens on whom the Constitution has bestowed upon a duty to remain vigilant in respect of working of the Laws, is that, this COMMITTEE IS NOT LEGALLY CONSTITUTED.

Chapter III of the Rules under Clause 24 has provided for constitution of the Committee. It is stipulated here that including the Chairman there shall be four members in the Committee. But the Committee has five members as per Notification No. 8629/WCD, dtd.23.3.2005. Where from the fifth member came and under which law he or she is functioning is not specified. This makes it clear that a person, in contravention of the Rules, has been vitiating the decisions of the Committee with his or her illegal participation.

As per the Notification stated supra, the Committee is constituted with (1) Sri Rabi Sankar Mishra, Rtd. District Judge – Chairman; (2) Mrs. Adaramani Baral, Rtd. Reader Member; (3) Mrs. Swarnaprava Das, Bhubaneswar Member; (4) Dr. S.S. Mahapatra, Rtd. Doctor Member and (5) Sri Priyabrata Mohanty, SIKO, Begunia Member. If legitimacy is considered seriatim, the last one is bereft of it.

Now the details in respect to other members of the Committee including the Chairman thereof:

(a)Sub-Clause (1) (a) of Clause 24 of the Rules says: A retired Judge or retired Deputy Secretary / Under secretary to the Government having experience in Social Welfare who shall be the Chairperson of the Committee. Rabi Sankar Mishra is recruited to the Committee and made Chairman thereof under this Sub-Clause. He is a retired Judge. But that cannot be the whole. The legal stipulation is that he must be having experience in Social Welfare. The notification is silent on this vital aspect. As the Secretary of the concerned department was not available, I had met the dealing Under Secretary in his Secretariat chamber. He as well as the dealing assistant had no information on records about what experience Sri Mishra has in the area of Social Welfare. When I wanted to ascertain it from Sri Mishra himself, he avoided. So there is nothing on available records to show that Sri Mishra has experience in Social welfare before being appointed as the Member-cum-Chairman of the Committee. This experience being the unavoidable qualification for chairmanship of the Committee, his appointment is not in consonance with Sub-Clause (1) (a).

(b)Sub-Clause (1) (b) says: A representative from an Academic Body, with the background of Child Psychology, Education, Sociology or Home Science can be a member. Seriatim, Mrs. Adaramani Baral is recruited under this Sub-Clause. She is a retired teacher in Oriya. She does not belong to any of the stipulated disciplines behind her background. All the four subjects stipulated under the Sub-Clause are child related. Hence she is not qualified to be a member in the Committee. Moreover, she has not been elected by any Academic Body to work as its REPRESENTATIVE in the Committee as required under the Sub-Clause. Therefore, her membership in the Committee is absolutely illegal.

(c)Sub-Clause (1) ( c ) says: A representative of reputed Non-Governmental Organizations working in the area of Child Welfare can be the third member. Mrs. Swarnaprava Das, Bhubaneswar is the third member in the Committee. The key qualification for this membership is that she must have been sent to the Committee by reputed Non-Governmental Organizations as THEIR REPRESENTATIVE. There is no record available with the Government that can show that REPUTED NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS have elected her to work in the Committee as their REPRESENTATIVE. Hence, her membership in the Committee is also illegal.

(d)Sub-Clause (1) (d) says: A teacher or a doctor or a senior retired public servant who has been involved in the work concerning Child Welfare, can be a member. Dr. S.S.Mohapatra, the forth member attracts this provision. How far he has been involved in the work concerning Child welfare has neither been ascertained by the Government nor has been specifically kept in official records.

From the above position it is clear that three of the members of the five-member Committee have no qualification for membership in the Committee and hence they are illegally appointed. The first member-cum-chairman as well as the forth member might be professionally qualified but EXPERIENCE IN SOCIAL WELFARE and INVOLVEMENT IN WORK CONCERNING CHILD WELFARE being prerequisites in their respective cases, their appointment to the Committee sans the same on records is not in consonance with the Rules.

Hence the Committee is a Committee that is illegally constituted.

When the constitution of the Committee is illegal, how could its decisions or recommendations be legal?

Even as this question needs cogitation, it is clear that Rules are raped in the official chamber of the Child Development Minister, who has exceeded her briefs to destabilize Buddhias self confidence and to harass him and his mentor.