The two-day Summit of Focus Orissa here on Saturday expressed serious concern over the deteriorating quality of life of the majuscule section of the society and called for true participatory democracy which can only ensure equitable development and the much-needed level playing field to the millions of the depressed people.
The summit deliberated on various themes like financial inclusion, governance, issues of migration and displacement, with the representatives of political parties, trade unions, journalist, social activists, academicians and intellectuals taking part in the discussion.
Raising concerns over the current mode of exclusive development that caters only to the elite section of the society and excluding the marginalised section, the participants brought to the fore the impact of neo-liberal policies that was adopted by the Government about two decades before.The decreasing trend of budgetary allocations for social sectors like health and education worried the participants. It was argued that whereas on the one hand the Government drastically reduced subsidy in these needy sectors, it continues to provide subsidised minerals to the corporate houses. They reiterated the need of formulating a resource management policy.
Former Minister of State for Finance Panchanan Kanongo stressed the need of prioritising the need of increasing food production rather than pursuing an aggressive industrial policy. With agriculture becoming unsustainable, people in the rural areas have no option but to migrate to other States and face inhuman conditions there, he said.In an effort to put up a platform for debate and discussion on the various issues concerning development of the State, Focus Orissa, a e-group which was started about three years back, held the summit in association with Agami Orissa, another e-group of the State, on 'Shaping the development debate of Orissa', activist Pradeep Baisakh said
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