SOSA meets Rlys Minister for Brahmapur station expansion

Demanding better railway infrastructure and connectivity for Brahmapur and South Odisha in the upcoming Railway Budget, South Odisha Students’ Association (SOSA) has submitted a memorandum to Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi in New Delhi. The students’ body has urged the Railway Minister to consider the long standing demand for a railway coaching terminal complex at Brahmapur, provision of adequate funds for the modernisation of century-old Brahmapur railway station with additional platforms, widening of the existing platforms, new entry points in place of the goods-shed which was shifted in 2005, adequate passenger amenities besides new long distance trains and expansion of inter-city trains. The association also demanded the early establishment of the proposed wagon manufacturing unit at Sitalapalli near the city and sought approval for new railway lines connecting Brahmapur and Sambalpur via Phulbani and Gopalpur to Rayagada as these railway lines are both economically viable and socially desirable. In their memorandum SOSA said that Brahmapur railway station handles the second highest number of passengers per day after the Bhubaneswar railway station in the State. “However, this railway station has been facing repeated negligence from the East Coast Railway zone authorities and not a single demand of the people has been addressed in the last decade,” said SOSA president RP Tripathy.

Source: The Pioneer

Photo: www.berhampurphoto.blogspot.com

Students’ body demands Bank of Odisha HQs at Berhampur

Berhampur: While praising the recent long-awaited decision of the State Government to form a sub-committee under the State Revenue Minister for exploring the establishment of Bank of Odisha, the South Odisha Students’ Association (SOSA) has requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for establishment of Bank of Odisha with its headquarters at Berhampur.

Having taken the logical first step, we do expect that the State Government would announce the formation of the Bank of Odisha with its corporate headquarters at Berhampur as it is logical that the rewards must go together with performance, stated president of SOSA RP Tripathy in a letter to the Chief Minister. The headquarters of the proposed Bank of Odisha at Berhampur in recognition of its standing in banking, business and commerce in the State will send the right signals and help the cities of Odisha focus on their core competencies, he wrote in his letter. This will become the first State-level headquarters of any establishment of any sector that will be located in Berhampur city. Further, the headquarters of Bank of Odisha in Berhampur will ensure distributive justice in the establishment of State institutions and the State Government must give Berhampur the due recognition that it deserves through this initiative, he added.

Justifying Berhampur as the ideal location for establishing the bank headquarters, Tripathy stated in the letter that Berhampur city has contributed immensely to the vibrancy, cultural and social life and above all economic growth of Odisha. Even with inadequate State support, Berhampur city has carved a niche for itself and has grown exponentially in the spheres of business, transport and commerce. It still remains the only hope and bright spot in the utterly backward region of southern Odisha. The city has always been a great centre for business and commerce since the days of the British Raj and most importantly it has flourished solely based on local entrepreneurship and initiatives, he pointed out.

He further stated that the Greater Berhampur region with a population of close to seven lakhs is the second biggest urban cluster in the State and supportive Government policies are the need of the hour for its future growth that in turn will propel the growth of the State.

In the past, the shifting of Government offices like the State headquarters of OSRTC, jail training academy, cooperative training academy etc from Berhampur led to resentment among the locals and the State Government must undo these erroneous decisions through the establishment of the proposed Bank of Odisha with its headquarters at Berhampur, which the city rightly deserves, he observed.

Source: The Pioneer (Link: http://www.dailypioneer.com/228435/Students’-body-demands-Bank-of-Odisha-at-Berhampur.html)