Benudhar Pradhan, age 95. His last Mission ' Saving Jagannath Puri from Vedanta University
Plus - Endless Land Troubles in Orissa
His Last Mission He brushes aside any offer of help and walks slowly towards the courtyard. There is a mischievous twinkle in his eye. I simply can't believe he is 95 years old. Bare chested and with just a dhoti twirled around, he still looks fit. It is difficult to catch every word he says because his teeth have long gone. But we do manage to hear an interesting anecdote about how this former Congress worker and A-class contractor met Jawaharlal Nehru along with a young Indira Gandhi with her two kids Rajiv and Sanjay long, long ago, when they had come to Puri and Konark. Benudhar Pradhan of Beladala village, just a few kilometres from the holy town of Puri, has been there and done all that. You would expect someone at his age to be basking in nostalgia and spoiling his brood of grandchildren and great grandchildren. Not Pradhan. He is a warrior who speaks with determination and anger about possibly fighting the last glorious battle of his life. He is very clear about his 'Last Mission' ' to save the holy town of Puri that houses the world famous Jagannath Temple from what he calls 'desecration'. He has gathered a ragtag band of warriors from 22 villages who have made him the President of Vedanta Vishwavidyalaya Sangharsh Samiti (VVSS).
Pradhan and his warriors have picked a very formidable enemy. They are pitted against the corporate and monetary might of the $8 billion Vedanta Resources led by Indian-born and London-based entrepreneur and tycoon Anil Agarwal, who effortlessly finds a place in the Forbes list of the world's richest people. Agarwal and his company have already weathered a veritable hurricane of protests and controversies over mining and alumina projects in the tribal hinterlands of Orissa. Vedanta has gone all out with its lobbying efforts to make a sceptical media and activists see things from its perspective. In fact, our Deputy Editor Virat Bahri did travel recently to the Niyamgiri hills of Orissa and wrote about the controversy with a perspective that attempted to see things the way Anil Agarwal sees them. (Go to www.businessandeconomy.org). His Last Mission In contrast to controversies raging around the alumina project and the steel projects of Tata Steel and POSCO in Orissa and around the world, Vedanta University seems to be quietly chugging along towards completion. The aftermath of Laila that caused so much havoc in nearby Andhra Pradesh has resulted in rains and a tangy sea breeze as our car moves towards the proposed university site' about 50 km from Bhubaneswar. The prior evening, I had pored over some promotional papers on the flight from Delhi.
The project looks truly world class and fits well with the now fashionable image of India as a rising global power. Anil Agarwal Foundation will invest a whopping Rs 150 billion in building a university on the Puri-Konark road that will possibly rival leaders like Harvard and Oxford. There have been claims that Sam Pitroda, the man who arguably kicked off the telecom revolution in India, will be the first Vice-Chancellor. The university will apparently recruit the best from across the world, including Nobel Prize winners, who will lead cutting edge research in frontier areas like bio-technology and nano-technology, among other things. Once up and running, it will be home to some 100,000 students and 20,000 faculty and research staff. Could it be that this $3 billion project is inviting unwarranted criticism?
The reality is starkly different when our car reaches the villages. It is difficult to visualise spanking new laboratories, classrooms and libraries replacing the huts, houses, muddy streets, courtyards and cattle that are the hallmark of rural India. Gaindala village ' just a few km away from Puri ' will lose all its land to the project, including the cremation ground. Villagers here are not poor; they cultivate three crops a year and most have sent their children to schools and colleges. Just across the road from the village is the breathtaking Bay of Bengal. The entire village is now simmering in rage. People here seem to be well versed with intricacies of arcane laws like the Land Acquisition Act. Says Kailash Chandra Swain, a resident of Gaindala, 'The state government is playing mischief with us. Normally, land for a university is acquired under Section 2 of the Land Acquisition Act. But here, they are acquiring land under Section 7. which is meant for industries.' The villagers standing around Swain nod vigorously. One of the sons of Benudhar Pradhan is accompanying us, chewing paan. Clearly, villagers here hold Pradhan in deep respect. A local activist Bishnu Prasad Mishra, who is also the spokesperson of VVSS, proclaims, 'We will not give an inch of land?'
Land, I had always suspected, would also be at the root of this controversy. Who, after all, wants to surrender fertile land to someone whom locals consider to be an interloper? But there is clearly a lot more to this. Vedanta University needs 6,000 acres of land. Villagers, many of whose children have been educated in colleges and universities, wonder why the university needs so much land. It works out to almost 24.5 sq km, far more than what Puri at 2,800 acres can claim. Villagers talk about another slightly controversial university project promoted by the Sri Sri Ravi Shankara Foundation elsewhere in Orissa. This university has been given 186 acres of land. You would naturally ask: what in God's name does Agarwal want to do with 6,000 acres? Actually, the original MoU signed between Vedanta and the Government of Orissa in 2006 had allocated 8,000 acres with a provision that the government will actively assist Vedanta in acquiring more land when required. His Last Mission Local villagers mutter darkly about Agarwal's real intentions. VVSS spokesman Mishra throws up two conspiracy angles. 'Scientists of Bhabha Atomic Centre have identified this area as a treasure of thorium and titanium. Therefore, Vedanta wants to acquire this area. What is the necessity of a township for five lakh people here?" Mainstream media is so focussed on the POSCO, Tata Steel and Niyamgiri controversies that these issues being raised by the villagers seem to have escaped public notice. Hardly anybody in Bhubaneswar ' forget Delhi ' seems aware that the University will eventually evict the potters who make clay pots used in the Jagannath Temple to distribute and sell the holy prasad. Even as we are being bombarded with these facts, my colleague Dhrutikam gets a call on his mobile. We promise to come back in a while and head for the beautiful Marine Drive that links Puri with Konark.
We turn left on Marine Drive and reach the edge of the reserved sanctuary that adjoins the Bay of Bengal. I am introduced to a local newspaper journalist who requests me not to use his name because he claims that his job might be in danger because some of his seniors in Bhubaneswar prefer to see things the way Agarwal wants to see them. Very close to the sanctuary lie cranes and machines abandoned by Vedanta because the locals would not allow it to start work. According to the journalist (later verified by us), the Orissa High Court has declared this a complete no construction zone. We see saplings and some trees struggling to grow right next to the sea. This particular place is critical because water plants use freshwater to supply the residents of Puri. Two plants have already been shut as per the orders of the court because the supply of sweet water is now dangerously low. The 6,000-acre Vedanta University will gobble up the only source of freshwater available in these parts in the form of a small river called Nuanai. 'The sanctuary will wither away and Puri will be left with no water whatsoever. This place has such deep religious significance for so many Indians, I am amazed how locals don't seem to realise that their town will be destroyed and there will be no water for the Jagannath Temple.' The journalist says (later confirmed by us by going through the MoU) that the University project will be supplied 1,10,000 cusecs every day.
Are people in Puri aware of this? Are the priests aware of the threat posed to the very existence of the holy shrine? We travel back a few kilometres to Puri to meet a few priests and get another shock. No one with any authority is willing to go on record, though many lament the abode of Lord Jagannath has been sold by some priests and trustees for a pittance. 'The then administrator sold the land to Vedanta University at a throwaway price. Can you imagine, the temple administration has received only Rs 80 million for 500 acres of land. Vedanta University has caused heavy loss to Lord Jagannath. The cost of this land is Rs 5 billion,' says a senior member of the managing committee of Jagannath Temple who refuses to be quoted. He says he can't be seen to be publicly disagreeing with his own committee. His Last Mission Mishra takes us to Beladala village from where Benudhar Pradhan is waging his classic David versus Goliath battle. Though the Rabi crop has been harvested quite some time back and the Kharif crop is yet to be sown, the land looks green. The green coconut milk that we drink and the home-grown 'non-hybrid' bananas that we get are delicious and soothing. We stare at acres upon acres of fields that belonged to the Jagannath Temple Trust and have now been sold to Vedanta. Pradhan is adamant, he and his band of warriors will not allow anyone to take away the land. 'This land has always belonged to Lord Jagannath.'
While driving back to Bhubaneswar late in the afternoon, I decide to carefully read the MoU signed back in July 2006 to try and make some sense of the controversy. The MoU is couched in the usual jargon and I realise there is a problem. Here are some disturbing things:
� The campus shall house Olympic calibre sports complexes and golf courses.
� The campus shall be fully residential for students and most of the faculty. For other supporting staff, it is proposed that the residential facilities be provided by third party developers as per the master plan.
� Land use/zoning plan in the five kilometre radius from the university boundary wall shall be made in consultation with Vedanta and its architects. This is to prevent proliferation of unplanned housing, shopping, et al. Please note: in many places, the boundary wall of the university will be just 100 metres from the sanctuary and the sea. It means Vedanta will control 25 sq km apart from the 24.5 sq km it will own. That will effectively swallow up Puri.
� The University will have immunity from any reservation laws and a statement to this effect will be incorporated in the legislation.
� The State government shall exempt all taxes/levies/duties for 20 years.
� Providing a four-lane road from Bhubaneswar city/airport to the project site. The State shall, at its own cost, provide a four-lane diversion road from a suitable point on NH-203 up to the project site.
� Making available necessary electric power, the order of requirement being 150 MW up to 2012 and subsequently ramped up to 600 MW by 2020. Please note: which university in the world boasts or will ever boast an in-house thermal power plant of 600 MW capacity?
� Government of Orissa appreciates that Vedanta will be entitled to induct suitable foreign or Indian joint venture partners, choose appropriate financing options, and select contractors/suppliers.
There are many more clauses and I won't bore you with more gory details. The next day, I set out to talk 'off the record' to some senior journalists based in Bhubaneswar. The picture I got was not pretty. I will recount just one of the many 'anecdotes' related to the Vedanta University project to give you an idea of what is happening out there. On July 25, 2009, just a few months after the BJD government won a third successive assembly election, bills for both Sri Sri and Vedanta universities were introduced. Prior to this, many Congress leaders were vehemently opposed to the universities and claimed they were land grabs. On July 29, 2009, the Sri Sri Bill was put to vote; 88 voted in favour and 22 against it. At 11.25 pm on July 30, 2009, the Vedanta University Bill was passed with a voice. Almost all members of the Assembly who voted against the Sri Sri University were 'absent' during the voice vote.
There are many, of course, who have been raising their voices against the project. Some are mystified by how the national media and unreliable websites such as Wikipedia are projecting Vedanta University as the largest single act of philanthropy in the history of education. Says former editor of Oriya daily The Samaja and the president of Orissa Sahitya Academy Ganeshwar Mishra, 'When Vedanta came with its proposal, I was sure that their intention is to do real estate business. Great universities of our country are operating on maximum 400 to 500 acres, so I don't find any justification to allot 6,000 acres of land for a private university.'
My thoughts go back to Pradhan and his seemingly hopeless 'Last Mission.' Corporate fortunes and massive industrialisation have often buried doughty warriors like him. Will history repeat itself again?
[PS: Our requests to Vedanta to answer some questions raised by activists and local people went unanswered]
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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