Despite active interest and funding of Non-Resident Indians of the Odisha Society of the Americas (OSA) since past one year, their dream project to establish a urban model library in Berhampur is yet to take off due to bureaucratic hassles.
According to the OSA sources, delay in this pilot library project in Berhampur has become stumbling block for taking up similar projects in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts. Following the devastating Phailin cyclone in 2013, the OSA had contributed $63,000 to the Chief Minister’s relief fund. As the fund had remained unutilised, the OSA had proposed to renovate, improve and modernise some libraries in Ganjam, Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts. The State government had also agreed to the proposal. On October 28, 2010, the State general administration department had written to the Collectors of these three districts for action.
According to OSA coordinator Suryanarayan Padhi, even though one year has passed, nothing much has materialised and the matter remains only in correspondences between the administration and Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC). “It is an irony that as our pilot project in Berhampur of Ganjam district is yet to take off, we are not in a position to take up similar projects in other two districts,” Mr Padhi said.
Berhampur is yet to have a proper well-equipped modern library despite being the largest urban centre of south Odisha. The existing libraries in the city managed by the BeMC have only some periodicals and newspapers and their stock of books is small and too old. In April 2015, the committee for the OSA Public Library Initiatives had written to the Ganjam District Collector requesting speedy and sound execution of the project in Berhampur.
Meanwhile, out of two libraries suggested by the BeMC, the OSA has chosen to transform Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Research Library (MRL) as the urban model library. But the OSA lamented that the BeMC is yet to come up with a detail plan for the project, while the OSA has decided to provide funds to renovate three other libraries of Berhampur.
