AS | Economic and Political Weekly

ORISSA- Flexible Party Lines

Flexible Party Lines AS ORISSA BIJU PATNAIK is having a tough time at home. A young Lok Dal worker has filed a petition before the munsif magistrate, Cuttack, seeking dissolution of the state executive of the party on the ground that it was set up in violation of the party constitution.

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ORISSA-Indira Grama Revisited

ORISSA Indira Grama Revisited AS THE village glitters from afar and looks much different from the usual mud- and-thatch villages. With rows of small, elosely-erected brick, houses over the slightly raised ground, the village looks like a miniature cantonment It is ten months since this village, Indira Grama', was inaugurated ('Story of Indira Grama', EW, May 23, 1981). The date that was prepared for the Prime Minister's speech still stands. But there is no sign of the fruit trees, four of which were promised to each of the hundred families rehabilitated in Indira Grama. The entire nursery of coconut and banana is a dry patch now, from one end to another.

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ORISSA-How Elections Are Won

ORISSA How Elections Are Won AS JAVANTI PATNAIK is the Congress (I) candidate for the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat. She is the wife of the Orissa chief minister, J B Patnaik. She starts with at least three advantages. She can cash in on Indira Gandhi's image before the villagers; as the chief minister's wife, she is treated as the most important woman in the slate and she can claim the distinction of being the first Oriya woman to contest a Lok Sabha election. These were the considerations which weighed in her selection, though no doubt another consideration was the need to eliminate the possibility of factional bickerings over other names.

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ORISSA-Story of Indira Grama

well as growing awareness that the original guidelines for negotiations with the foreign oil companies were not being adhered to with the necessary skill and firmness. The anxiety to impress the foreign companies and to clinch deals with them had overwhelmed sound judgment. Whether other considerations also played their part in influencing the Minister and others concerned to be so soft towards the foreign companies can only be surmised. But, it seems, correctives are now being applied to put back the negotiations with the oil companies on sounder lines. It is being realised that too much softness and readiness to sacrifice India's vital interests in a sensitive area do not even go to attract the foreign oil companies to undertake exploration in a big way and make investments on the scale earlier hoped for by the government. The stiff attitude of the oil companies has itself acted as a sobering influence on the evolution of official policy.