Infrastructure, Naxal nightmare don’t interrupt Koda’s dreams

None of the 55 memoranda of understanding inked between the Jharkhand Government and private firms last year...

None of the 55 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) inked between the Jharkhand Government and private firms last year have been operationalised yet, but Chief Minister Madhu Koda is eyeing for more. Even the spurt in crime, naxalite violence, power shortage and collapsing infrastructure have failed to dampen his plans for an Udyog Mela.

The fair continues to be central to the Chief Minister’s development plans for Jharkhand, and at present, his wish is to see either Congress president Sonia Gandhi or Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurate the mela. “We are trying to bring one of them,” said Koda. Any one who is somebody in the UPA Government of the state is expected to be in Ranchi for the mela that will showcase industries with a new slogan — “Destination Jharkhand: sunrise state”.

Moreover, Koda has sanctioned Rs 4 crore for the mela when the state is still struggling to see projects, including those with Jindal, Tata and Mittal, take-off. “We are going to give subsidies to those 20 companies who set up units here in the past one year,” Industry Secretary Santosh Satpathy told The Indian Express. The venue of the week long mela (November 14-21), organised to mark the seventh establishment day of the state, is the sprawling Morahabadi maidan in Ranchi. Preparations are in full swing and as many as 500 companies have been invited to set up stalls.

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Even Mittal Steel, which was recently allocated a coal block here, will set up a 24X6 metre stall at the mela. “It’s an opportunity to show our achievements to the world and reiterate our commitment towards investment in Jharkhand,” said Sanak Mishra, an official of the firm. But since crime and Naxalite violence remain unabated in the state and infrastructure continues to be in a shambles, the 1800-member strong Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FJCCI) and the Jharkhand Small Industries Association (JSIA) have decided to boycott the mela.

“It is non sense,” said JSIA president A Chhawchharia. FJCCI president Arun Budhia too is annoyed. “The Government has no industrial policy, no resettlement and rehabilitation policy. But in the name of industrial fair, it is determined to drain public money in crores.”