DAANA MAJHI AND BURDEN OF DEATH

In August, after being denied a hearse, Daana Majhi, a poor tribal from Kalahandi, had to walk more than 12km carrying his wife's body on his shoulders from Bhawanipatna district headquarters hospital. The incident made international news, denting the image of the Naveen Patnaik government. However, the life of Daana and his four daughters changed after several organisations and individuals came forward to help him. The Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) is providing free boarding and education to his three daughters. Naveen may have roped in the Vedanta Group to set up a medical college-cum-hospital in the backward district, but the Daana Majhi episode tarnished his government's image to a great extent for not being able to provide proper infrastructure in the tribal-dominated areas.

CHARIOT ROW

Controversy erupted when one sevayat of the Shree Jagannath Temple defied the directions of temple administration and took his daughter atop the chariot of the Lord Balabhadra during the car festival. The incident led to a clash between the administration and the sevayats. The district collector was manhandled. Police had to arrest eight sevayats involved in the brawl and even tried to confiscate properties of those absconding. The government appointed a judicial commission with former Orissa High Court judge, Justice BP Das, as its head to recommend measures to facilitate smooth functioning of the shrine. 

KANDHAMAL KILLINGS 

Security forces allegedly killed five tribals, including three women and an 18-month-old baby, on July 8 at Gumudumaha in Kandhamal district. Though police claimed that the victims were caught in crossfire between the security forces and the Maoists, but eyewitnesses and local people said jawans had opened fire on the people. Although, 
judicial probe was ordered into the incident, it had tarnished the image of the Naveen Patnaik government providing ammunition to Opposition parties.

SUM HOSPITAL FIRE

Thirty people died and more than 100 were injured when a fire broke out in the ICU of Sum hospital on October 17. The incident exposed the lack of fire safety measures in private hospitals. The state government woke up to face the hard reality that it virtually had no enforcement mechanism. The fire claimed the scalp of health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, who resigned owning moral responsibility for the incident. The founder of the hospital, Manoj Nayak, was 
arrested and a probe ordered against him. 

EGG ATTACK AND SCARF CONTROVERSY

In 2015, a group of youth Congress workers pelted eggs at chief minister Naveen Patnaik's carcade in Bhubaneswar capital without realising that it would become a trend in 2016. In July, BJD workers attacked the carcade of Union textiles minister Santosh Gangwar in Bargarh. The incident triggered a series of “egg attacks” on ministers. BJD leader Pradeep Maharathy was also at the receiving end once. Over 12 incidents have been reported from across the state.

On December 4, police asked a group of women attending a public meeting of chief minister Naveen Patnaik in Sundargarh to remove their black stoles and dupattas, suspecting that they would wave them to embarrass Naveen. The incident triggered widespread criticism and even the proceedings of the Assembly was stalled for days. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had to apologise for the incident and pulled up director general of police KB Singh. He was asked to ensure that such incidents did not recur. 

JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS & NAGADA INFANTS

The state government may claim to have taken several measures for tribals in the state, but it has failed miserably to check the spread of Japanese encephalitis in Malkangiri district. The disease has claimed more than 150 lives. It has raised question marks on the medical “infrastructure in the backward areas. Both the Congress and the BJP targeted the Naveen Patnaik government for its failure to check the outbreak of the disease. Bowing to criticism, Naveen visited the affected areas and announced ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh for family members of the deceased. But, the Congress has taken up the issue in a big way to regain the trust of the tribals. Protest against the deaths echoed across the country. 

If Japanese encephalitis was not enough, the death of at least 19 infants due to malnutrition at Nagada village in Jajpur district in June and July exposed the administration’s lack of reach across the state. Authorities admitted that the lack of an all-weather road deprived these remote areas of several government schemes. Following wide spread criticism, the government announced a special package and asked the district administration to identify such remote areas to ensure that such incidents didn’t recur in the state.

Bhubaneswar mayor Ananta Narayan Jena is in the news for wrong reasons. A controversial sex CD surfaced and there were allegations that the mayor featured in it. The death of an engineering student was also linked to the incident. A youth Congress leader alleged that the student was murdered because he had a copy of the controversial video. Both the Congress and the BJP tried to milk the issue politically and called dharnas and bandhs on the issue. But, Naveen maintained silence. It remains to be seen whether Jena will continue as the mayor or not.