The year under Review was a year of significant changes for the Organisation as a whole. The new Governing Body along with the amended Memorandum and Rules and Regulations assumed the charge of the management on 27th May 2001 and got the latter approved by the Registrar of Society, shortly thereafter. It took quite some time for the new management to get conversant with the rules of business. Despite difficulties, all efforts were made by the new office bearers and the staff of the Organisation to keep up the tradition of transparency, uprightness and responsiveness to the public concerns, as was maintained in earlier years since its inception in 1988. The uniqueness that marked the activities of the year under review was the increased thrust on gender oriented programmes, which was an obvious fall-out of the new management overwhelmingly dominated by the women members.

The activities of the Organisation in the year 2001-2002 covered the old continuing programmes and also some newly initiated ones, as mentioned below field-wise.

The following kinds of services were provided by the Organisation during 2001-02:

• Awareness of the public, and sensitization of the media, officials and NGOs.
• Maintenance of two Drug Deaddiction Centres, one at Cuttack and the other at Kendrapara with the facilities for OPD and Indoor Treatment, Counseling and Referral
• Counseling of the Patients and their family members
• Practice of Yoga
• Follow-up of the Patients treated in the Centre
• Training of the Staff
• Networking with concerned organizations
  
  

The "Nishamukti Kendra" beginning from 1992 and presently located at Ganesh Ghat, Bakharabad, Cuttack-2 entered into the 10th year of its functioning. In the year 2001-02, the total number of addicts registered was 628, out of which 472 were old patients and 156 nos. new. Of the total, the single drug Brown Sugar claimed as many as 455 nos. followed by 115 Alcoholics, 17 nos. of Bhanga cases, 16 Ganja, 10 Opium addicts and 15 other drug groups. As regards the cause of addiction, out of the total, as many as 555 nos. were motivated to drugs under peer pressure, 57 nos. under individual problems and 15 nos. due to family problems and 1 no. due to depression. Out of the total 628 patients, 506 nos. were treated under OPD while 122 under Indoor setup. As regards the source of referral of patients to the Centre, as many as 338 were motivated by the family, while 286 by the self and 4 by the friends. Among the total, 287 nos. of cases had a history of more than 3 years duration, 197 of 1 to 3 years duration and 144 had the duration of less than a year. As regards the nos. of drop-outs of the year, the total nos. were 55, out of which 40 were Indoor patients and 15 OPD. As regards the reasons of dropout, 21 nos. succumbed under peer group pressure, while 20 nos. under severe withdrawal syndrome and 14 due to lack of family support.

To monitor the recovery status of the patients treated in the previous year, the follow-up programmes were undertaken routinely by the personnel of the Centre through various means such as home visit and correspondence. A total of 99 nos. of patients of different drug groups were found to have fully recovered from the drug abuse and were leading a clean life, while 143 nos. of cases were found to have relapsed to their previous drugs of abuse.

Also known as "Nishamukti Kendra", the Drug deaddiction Centre located at Khadianga, Kendrapara was set up in mid-1998 entered into the 4th year of its functioning in 2001-2002 The total nos. of patients registered in the Centre were 590 out of which 374 were under OPD and 216 were under Indoor setup. Out of the total, 230 were new and 360 old. Out of the total, the highest 258 nos. were alcoholics followed by 124 Ganja, 95 Brown Sugar and 31 Opium addicts, 44 nos being abusers of two drugs (Opium and Ganja) and 38 nos. of multiple drugs. As regards the cause of addiction, as many as 493 nos took to drugs under peer group pressure followed by 71 under depression, 15 under anxiety and 11 due to family problems. As regards the length of usage of the abused drug, 419 nos. had a history of more than 3 years duration, while 154 between 1 to 3 years and 17 less than 1 year. As regards the source of referral, 267 nos. were self-motivated, while 240 motivated by the family, 21 by friends, and 62 by social workers.

During the year the follow-up programmes were undertaken to monitor the status of the patients treated in the previous year. It was noticed that 206 nos of patients were fully recovered and were reading a clean life. At the same time, a total of 40 patients of the previous year were found to have relapsed to the drugs of their abuse. Out of the total relapse cases 19 had relapsed within 1 to 2 years of their recovery, while 8 nos within 6 to 12 months, 7 nos within 3 to 6 months and 6 nos within 3 months.

While the Cuttack Centre charged nominal users' fees at the time of registration of the patients, the Centre at Kendrapara provided not only absolutely free-of-cost OPD and Indoor treatment, but also free provision of food and snacks along with medicines for the Indoor patients.

As in the previous 2 years, the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was observed in the premises of Nishamukti Kendra at Bakharabad, Cuttack on 26th of June 2002 under the joint aegis of Project Swarajya and Cuttack Police through a Seminar on the topic 'Control of drug abuse and alcoholism in the State of Orissa'. Inaugurated by Sri K.D.Bajpai, Director General of Orissa Police, the Seminar was addressed among others by Dr.B.B.Panda, Ex-DG Orissa Police, Sri Harihar Panda, DIG Orissa Police (Central Range), Sri A.K.Vaishnaw, Collector Cuttack, Dr.Nayan Mohanty, Prof. and HOD Forensic Medicines and Toxicology Department, SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack. It was presided over by Sri M.Akshay, Superintendent of Police (SP) Cuttack. The underlining concern of the talks delivered by the speakers was how to check the sreading menace of drug abuse, especially that of Brown sugar among the poorer sections of the society. The welcome speech was given by Smt.Nirupama Jena, Vice-President and vote of thanks by Smt Dolli Dash, Secretary Project Swarajya. About 200 nos. of participants hailing from various walks of life, such as police, district officials, NGOs, mediamen and medical personnel attended the Seminar. The talks by the invited resource persons were followed by an interactive session, in which the participants asked different questions that were discussed and clarified by the resource persons.

To mark the observation of the occasion, a Special Indoor De-addiction Camp for the brown sugar patients from the below poverty line sections, was started and continued for a fortnight.

Ms.Sophia Shaik, a member of the General Body of Project Swarajya took part in the '5 day Training Programme on Rehabilitation and Relapse Prevention- Issues and modalities for Service Providers in the field of prevention of drug abuse and alcoholism' held at Calcutta during 3-7 September 2001 under the aegis of National Institute of Social Defence in collaboration with Vivekanada Education Society. Ms.Mousami Sharma and Ms.Sujata Mohapatra, Social Workers took part in the one-day Consultation on 'Follow-up of the deaddicted patients' held on 3rd December 2001 at Mukti Sadan, Banki ( A Deaddiction Centre), called by NICCD. Sri Bibhu Prasad Mohapatra, Pharmacist of Cuttack Deaddiction Centre took part in the Meeting on 'Deaddiction, Counseling and Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts' held at Hotel Keshari, Bhubaneswar on 14th March, 2002, called by Open Learning System and Vijaya. The talk was delivered by Sri Sudhansu S.Mishra of Minneapolis, USA, followed by interactions with the participants.

In pursuance of the Resolution of the state level seminar on right to information held at Basundhara Cuttack on 14th March,2001 on the occasion of World Consumers Day, Project Swarajya took a series of initiatives spanning the whole year 2001-2002 for promoting the campaign for legislating Right to Information in the state of Orissa, as was already enacted in the states of Tamilnadu,Goa, Maharastra, Rajasthan, and Delhi. The Organisation took active part in the mass rally of Women, held on 17th May, 2001 in the Capital of the state Bhubaneswar under the aegis of Orissa Patita Uddhar Samiti. At the end of the rally, a memorandum was presented to Governer Orissa demanding enactment of Right to Information in the state. On the basis of a comparative study of different State legislations on RTI and also that of the Central draft bill for freedom of information 2000, a model draft bill for Orissa Right to Information Act 2001 was formulated on the initiative of Sri Chitta Ranjan Behera, Founder Advisor of the Organisation for discussion among the public at large. The said draft bill which came to be known as citizens draft bill was discussed and debated widely across the state in different forum like Seminar, Workshop, consultation etc involving cross section of public like lawyers, NGOs, Media men, Panchayat Raj functionaries and government officials. Mention may be made of important local level events organized to deliberate on the draft bill for Orissa RTI, such as at Anugul on 5th October, 2001, at Kendrapada on 4th November 2001 by District Book fair, at Keunjhar on 28th November 2001 by Sanjog, at Harichandan pur on 10th December, 2001 by Centre for Develpomental Activities. A state level consultation on Right to Information was held at DRTC, Bhubaneswar on 18-19 December 2001 under the joint aegis of CYSD (Centre for Youth and Social Development) and CHRI (Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative) New Delhi, where the citizens draft bill for Orissa Right to Information Act 2002 was discussed in detail and some amendments were suggested to make the draft bill more citizen friendly. During the regional consultation organized by NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) on 29th January 2002 at Bhubaneswar, a memorandum pleading for Orissa to have a Right to Information legislation was presented and circulated among the participants. The issue of Right to Information and other matters relating to good governance were also discussed in such forums as public meeting on Bikash Yatra at Jagatsinghpur on 20th December 2001 organised by CLAP(Committee for Legal Aid to Poor) and District Action Group Jagatsingh pur, meeting on Panchayati raj and Right to Information held at DRTC Bhubaneswar on 8th January 2002 jointly by CYSD and Lokshakti, Andhra Pradesh, Block level awareness camp for free and fair panchayat election held at Madhuban, Baranga jointly by Maitree Samaj and DLCC, Cuttack on 2nd February 2002,Observation of Womens Day at Angul on 8-10 March 2002 by Nari Surakshya Samiti, Workshop on Women and Human Rights at Dhenkal on9-10 March 2002 Indira Social Welfare Organisation. A survey on information level among the special categories of population was also conducted as a part of the movement for Right to Information in Orissa. The schedule caste and tribal population of the interior village Ghodapanka in Gajapati district were surveyed on 23rd January 2002, while the coastal fisherman population were covered in the months of January and February 2002 for the purpose.

The Oriya version of Draft Bill for Orissa RTI 2002 was circulated widely among the conscious citizens for their comments. Mediamen of both English and Oriya newspapers were sensitized through conversations with them, as a result of which articles on RTI and related issues came out intermittently in the newspapers and magazines.

Under the impact of a growing campaign for Right to Information the Chief Minister Orissa announced on the occasion of Jayaprakash Jayanti on 11th October 2001 that his Government was preparing for enacting an RTI legislation in the state. Subsequently on 23rd November 2001 the Chief Minister of Orissa dedicated the proposed RTI legislation to the memory of the first Chief Minister Orissa Late Nabakrushna Choudhury who was well known for his transparency in public life.

A signature campaign was also conducted in different parts of the state in favour of a petition addressed to the Chief Minister Orissa urging him to enact a proper RTI legislation in the state as a tool of realizing his mandate for a clean, corruption free, responsive and transparent governance for Orissa.

In the year 1995 Project Swarajya had filed a PIL petition against Paradip Phosphates Ltd in the High Court of Orissa (OJC No. 8410 of 1995) with a view to check the pollution of the waters of adjacent Atharbanki creek, caused by the intermittent discharge of untreated toxic effluents from the Fertilizer Plant run by PPL, and consequent damage to the human beings, fishes and other marine organisms and their eco-system. The local fisher communities who were greatly affected thereby had lodged complaint against such pollution before the Assistant Director of Fisheries, Government of Orissa at Kujang, who in turn approached Project Swarajya for taking some remedial action in this regard. Thus the above-mentioned PIL had started off.

After 7 years of the filing of the case, the High Court directed State Pollution Control Board, Orissa, Bhubaneswar to inspect the premises of M/S Paradip Phosphates Ltd in the presence of the representatives of the petitioner-oraganisation in regard to the present status of the pollution so alleged. Accordingly, an inspection was held by the State Pollution Control Board, Orissa, Bhubaneswar on 9th May 2002 in the presence of the representatives of Project Swarajya Sri C.R.Behera, R.S.Mishra, and A.Senapati. Two representatives of local fishermen, namely Sri Aniruddha Dalei and Jogendra Dalei were also present throughout the period of inspection. The inspecting team of S.P.C.B. Orissa consisted of Er. B.Mallick, Senior Environment Engineer and Sri Bhagabat Prasad Pattajoshi, Assistant Law Officer.

On the conclusion of the said inspection, it was realized that all measures of safeguard against the possibilities of air and water pollution were adequately taken by the authorities of PPL during the inter period.

However, to ascertain the views of the local fisherfolk and inhabitants on the present status of pollution, if at all, caused by the PPL, a joint surveying team of the personnel of Project Swarajya and PPL went round the nearby slums such as Nuapada No.4 and Indira Park and interviewed their residents. But all the persons so interviewed opined that the PPL has stopped polluting the environment since long. They further showed the plants and grasses on the creek banks, which have turned pale under the severe impact of pollution. Further they narrated the horrible stories of how once or twice every month during the last two years, the water streams of Atharbanki creek and other outlets of Mahanadi mouth used to get poisoned by the chemical effluents, leading to the instant and mass scale death of fishes and all living aquatic species. Simultaneously the poisonous gasses spread all around making it difficult for the people to breathe and see properly. With burning sensation in their eyes and respiratory problems, it became all most impossible for the people to live and move in the area. Which the water and air being contaminated all around, the local people have contracted the different diseases like TB, loss of eye-sight, skin problems and gastric disorders. As regards the cause of such pollution, the local people were unanimous in their opinion that Oswal Fertilizers Company was solely responsible for it.

Under the circumstances, it was decided by Project Swarajya to lodge a PIL case in the High Court of Orissa against the Oswal Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd Paradip to check the pollution hazard caused by them.

It was organized jointly by UNDP, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India, Forest Department, Government of Orissa and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Dehrahdun at Bhubaneswar on April 9-10, 2001, under the GOI-UNDP SEA Turtle Project in which the Scientist and Govt officials from various maritime states of the country participated and presented their perspectives on Sea Turtle Conservation. Project Swarajya sent two representatives namely Sri C.R. Behera its advisor and Sri R.S. Mishra, Retd. Deputy Director of Fisheres Orissa and secretary Spandan, an NGO, who took active part in the deliberations of the Workshop through out a paper jointly authed by them 'Need for indigenising the Turtle Excluder Device for Indian waters' was presented in the Workshop for discussion.

It was organized by the office of Chief Wildlife Warden Govt of Orissa in collaboration with Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Dehrahdun under the GOI-UNDP Sea Turtle Project at Khandagiri, Bhubaneswar on 12th Nov. 2001. Such agencies as Coast Guard Paradip, State Fisheries Dept, DFOs of Rajnagar, Puri and Ganjam, Wildlife Protection Society of Orissa and Jay Jagannath Primary Marine Fisheries Co-operative Society, Kharinasi took part in its deliberations. Sri B.C. Choudhury of WII, National Co-ordinator of GOI-UNDP Sea Turtle Project and Dr. Bhivas Pandav, Scientist of WII were present in the Workshop. Besides the Chief Wildlife Warden Sri S.K. Pattanaik, who presided over the Workshop, Dr. C.S. Kar, Research Officer was the co-ordinator of the proceedings. Sri C.R. Behera, Advisor to Project Swarajya and Sri R.S. Mishra, Secretary, Spandan took an active part in the deliberations and emphasized in course of their respective talks on the need for holding a Workshop on TED involving the primary stake-holders i.e. the trawl owners and operators, who were conspicuously absent from the on- going Workshop. Dr. Choudhury in his response inter alia recognized the need for holding such a Workshop on TED, to be organized under the joint aegis of Directorate of Fisheries, Orissa and Project Swarajya.

It was held at Salipur College in Cuttack District on 18 and 19 Jan 2002 under the auspices of Dept of Zoology, involving the aquaculturists, Scientists, Govt. officials, Academicians and NGOs with view to promote interaction among all these sections for evolving responsible code of conduct for exploitation of aquatic resources. Sri Chitta Behera, Advisor to Project Swarajya presented a paper on 'Indigenising the Turtle Excluder Device For Orissa Coast', which appeared in the Souvenir published on the occasion.

On the 27 January 2002, in between 7 AM and noon, the Directorate Of Fisheries, Orissa organized a field demonstration of CIFT model of TED in the sea off New Fishing Harbour, Paradip with a view to facilitate an eye-witness observation by the trawl owners/operators about the viability of the device, especially with regard to retention of fish catch while exiting the turtle and other unwanted bye-catch.

The persons who were on-board included Sri Satyabrata Sahu, Director Fisheries Orissa , and other Officials and staff of his Directorate along with two representatives of Orissa Marine Fish Producers Association, Paradip Sri Kishor Rath and Sri Meghanad Behera . The two trawlers engaged in the operation were of Fisheries Dept, namely M.V.Crown and M.V Talaban. Sri C.R Behera, Advisor and Sri S.K Behera Project Coordinator of Project Swarajya took part in the event.

It was noticed that the CIFT model of TED exited the turtles successfully through its escape hole, while the amount of fish escape remained a subject of controversy and differing interpretations. Therefore, the need for organizing a larger programme for trial of CIFT TED involving the fishery scientists and the trawler representatives in near future under joint auspices of the Government and NGO was felt most

A four-day participatory programme of 'Workshop-cum-Demonstration on Turtle Excluder Device for the Trawl owners and Operators of Orissa coast' was held at Paradip from 9th to 12th February 2002 under the joint aegis of Directorate of Fisheries, Government of Orissa and Project Swarajya, an NGO based at Cuttack, sponsored by Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun under GOI-UNDP Sea Turtle Project. Inaugurated by Sri Santosh Kumar Mohapatra, Chairman Paradip Port Trust at Employees Recreation Centre, it was attended by such distinguished government officials as Sri Ashok Kumar Tripathy, Commissioner-cum-Secretary Department of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development, Sri Satyabrata Sahu Director Fisheries, Sri Ambika Prasad Tripathy Chief Wildlife Warden, Sri Aurobindo Behera, Managing Director of Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority and Special Relief Commissioner, Sri Manmohan Praharaj Inspector General of Orissa Police and Sri Choudhuri Hari Das Assistant Commissioner of Fisheries Government of India. The essence of their talks was an appeal to the trawl owners and operators to examine the suitability of the proposed TED from the point of view of both it's impact on their fish catch and it's efficacy for safeguarding the endangered turtles.

Besides Dr.C.S.Kar, Wildlife Research Officer of Government of Orissa and Dr.Bivas Pandav, Scientist Wildlife Institute of India served as resource persons of the programme, responding to and interacting with the trawl owners and other participants on the biology of sea turtles.

About 60 representatives of various trawler associations hailing from Dhamara, Paradip and other fishing bases of the State sank their internal differences under the banner of a common platform 'All Orissa Coordination Committee of Trawler Owners' and took a visibly active part in different events of the programme. They were so much vociferous about their interests that they at one point staged a demonstration outside the meeting hall to express their resentment against an allegedly exaggerated and false media report having negative implications for the trawling industry. Such leaders of trawl owners as Sri Tarun Kumar Pattnaik, Kishore Rath, Kameswar Narayan Praharaj and Dillip Kumar Sahu not only delivered long and fiery speeches, but also forcefully intervened on several occasions to press for the attention of the audiences to their 'hitherto ignored' points of view. Moreover, on the concluding day, a 9 point Memorandum was circulated by their Committee, in which inter alia the existing model of CIFT TED was squarely jettisoned on the apprehension that it would reduce their fish catch by 50%. The same Memorandum pleaded that any alternative device that CIFT might design in future would be acceptable to them, only and if it would cause no loss to the fish catch while saving the turtle, and that too following a year long test and trial of the viability of the new device at the Government level.

The Second day was devoted to hands-on lessons in net preparation, TED fabrication and installation in he premises of New Fishing Harbour, under the guidance of the scientists of CIFT, CIFNET and FSI, namely Dr. Raghu Prakash, Dr. Pandian, and Sri K. Gopal Krishnan along with Sri Kuttapan and Sri K.Kamaraju. On the third day a comparative demonstration of fishing trawlers with and without attachment of TED and also with and without the attachment of the second cod end was held by four trawlers at a depth of around 16 fathoms, about 10 to 12 km off the coastline, in the presence of the scientists, trawl owners, NGOs, media men and Govt. officials.

On the concluding day both Government personnel including the scientists and the trawler leaders presented their respective views and interpretations on the results of TED demonstration, which were found to be widely divergent. On the basis of the deliberations so made, a 10 point Resolution was proposed by the President of the Valedictory session Sri T.K. Behera, Joint Director of Fisheries, Orissa, which was subject to a threadbare discussion. After incorporating the consensus on the amendments, the Resolution was passed unanimously which inter alia called for review and revision of all turtle conservation measures adopted so far, minimum one year trial of any new design of TED or any alternative device to precede its use by the trawl owners, necessary modification of the present design of CIFT TED found to cause excessive escape of fish, amendment of the concerned legislations on 'no fishing zone' following mandatory use of TED, a coordinated effort on the front of turtle protection and TED use between the four coastal States of East coast of India (West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu), further in-depth studies on the endangered marine bio-diversity and ecosystems, deployment of Special Officers of the Fisheries Department in two coastal districts Kendrapara and Bhadrak for better implementation of turtle conservation measures, provision of the proposed Identity Cards for the marine fishermen and Colour Codes for the fishing vessels by the Coast Guard, more of welfare oriented and compensatory schemes for the fishermen to offset their poor condition and declining fish catch, and above all demarcation of the boundaries of 'no fishing zones' to avoid unpleasant hassles between fishermen and enforcement authorities.

Sri Rakhal Shyam Mishra, an ex-Deputy Director of Fisheries, Orissa spoke inter alia on the newly devised, low cost and easy-to-handle technology i.e. Trawl Guard, which might prove an alternative to the controversial TED. Another guest of honour Sri Anwar Khan the Assistant Commandant of Coast Guard, Orissa observed that they are duty bound to seize the vessels found illegally operating in the sanctuary areas. If the fishermen do not want Coast Guard to enforce turtle protection measures, they should better take up the issue with the Government first of all. The Chief Guest of the Valedictory Session Sri Choudhury Hari Das, Assistant commissioner Fisheries, Govt. of India observed that he would strive at his Departmental level for introduction of more fishermen friendly schemes to compensate for their loss, if there be any on account of the use of TED.

Following the concluding address by Sri T.K.Behera President of the Valedictory Session, Sri Srihari Pattnaik, Senior Research Officer of the Directorate of Fisheries, Orissa extended warm thankfulness to all the resource persons, trawl owners, officials, media men and NGOs for making the Workshop into a grand success.

The detail proceedings of the 4 day Programme of Workshop-cum-Demonstration on Turtle Excluder Device is now available on the Website of the Organisation, namely www.projectswarajya.com , which can be freely downloaded by any person.

A 5 day camp from 25 to 30 July 2001 was held in Anuary GP for providing free kitchen service to the flood affected people in Anuary Bramhpura and Baraputa GPs of Banki Block under the joint auspices of Project Swarajya and STRIP with the rice assistance provided by OSDMA (Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority), Bhubaneswar a total of 14109Nos of persons belonging to 2598 families in 29 wards under 14 villages of the aforesaid 3 GPs of Banki block-1 were benefited by the camp.

A one day relief camp was organized by Orissa Nari Seva Sangha, Cuttack on 27th July 2001 in Kusupur and Srikrishnapur GPs of Mahanga block for the flood affected people and animals. The villages covered were Kotha Harizan Sahi, Tala Harizan Sahi, Dhoba Sahi, Keuta Sahi and Paramanika Sahi under Kusupur GP and Ramachandrapur and Adhamaheshpur of Srikrishnapur GP. Apart from them the displaced people taking shelter on the Pingalai Kenal bank were also provided with relief. While the people were given bread the animals like cattle, goat, sheep and dogs were provided with grass and bread. The volunteers of such local NGOs as Shradha, Kasturi and Rupayan had extended their collaboration for successful relief distribution. At the end of the relief operations the relief team met Sri Hrushikesh Tripathy, ADM the incharge of relief operations in Mahanga block and the local BDO and appraised them about the need for free kitchen service in the above said villages for a week and also long term rehabilitation programme for the severely affected families in the area. Project Swarajya extended its collaboration to the ONSS in terms of both man-power and videography.

Having learnt that there was no supply of relief to the flood affected people of Kajidhia-Mundasahi, a delegation on 21 July 2001 met the collector, Cuttack and apprehend him about the plight of these people and the need for emergency relief to then. The collector replied that the municipal corporation was interested with task of providing relief to them.

It was felt that instead of waiting for the C.M.C. to provided relief to such people in the stress there should be immediate provision of emergency relief for them. A team of volunteers of Project swarajya M/s Doli Das, Nirupama Jena and Sophia Shaikh and others proceed to Kajidhia Mundasahi and distributed 500 packets of biscuits to the starved families. It was found that the affected families were living under open sky since their houses were badly damaged by the floods. The delegation of Project Swarajya again met the Collector order and requested him to provided polythene sits for temporary shelter.

In the afternoon of 23rd July a joint team of volunteers of both Basundhara, Spandan and Project Swarajya conducted a relief operation for the village Gunupur, which has been marooned and badly hit by the recent floods. The relief materials provided Basundhara consisted of the following

Breads- 1000 pieces.
Biscuits - 10 cartoons, each cartoon of 15 packets, and each packet of 10 pieces.
Mineral water - -300 pouches.
Bleaching power - 25 Kgs

The relief team left Cuttack at around 4.15 P.M in an Armada Van for Mahanga Block from where they would carry the relief material is by beat to the destination village.

On 21 July 2001, a team of Orissa Nari Seba Sangha consisting of Smt. Sakuntala Mohanty (President), Smt Mamata Das (Secretary), Smt Sailabala Mohanty (Hall Secretary), and Snehalata Mohanty and Mr Chitta Ranjan Behera, Advisor visited the flood affected village of Kajipatana under Cuttack Sader Block located on the opposite side of Kathajori river facing Cuttack city. The visit was meant to survey the damage caused by the recent floods and to distribute emergency flood relief among the affected people. The relief consisting of breads was distributed to the affected villagers, who were camping on the road in make shift tents made of polythene seats and tree trunks.

It was observed that the embankment road suppose to protect the village from the floods was a weak, narrow and earthen one and there fore used to be damaged every year when the floods came. The villages were advised to write to the Government for construction of pucca and strong embankment

On 21 July 2001 the volunteers of Kendrapara branch of Project Swarajya in collaboration with Orissa Krusak sabha distributed Chapatis to the flood affected people in Kalapada area.

On 21 July 2001 Sri Asis Senapati Project Director of Kendra para branch of Project Swarajya along with is Journalist friends accompany Sri Bijay Mohapatra of Orissa Gana parisada to Patakura areas by boat to survey the condition of villages which remand marooned by floods. They distributed at Chura to the affected villagers whom they came across on their way. They met Sri Gagan Dhal, IAS who was deputed to Patakura as the special relief officer and apprehend him about the miserable plight of the affected villagers and the need for immediate provision of emergency relief.

On 21 July 2001 Sri Asis Senapati Project Director of Kendrapara branch of Project Swarajya accompanied the team of Basundhara led by its Secretary Mrs Saila Behera to such GPs as Tikhiri, Ameipal, Khursia and Patalipanka under Mahakalapada Block and distributed relief consisting of loaves, biscuits, baby food and water bottles. On their way back they also distributed relief to the villagers of Kusunpur under Marshaghai Block, located on the express highway near the Canal Bridge.

In course of the Campaign for legislating Right to Information in Orissa, the awareness on consumer rights was taken up in right earnest, since the two rights are integrally related with each other. It was explained to the participants of various awareness programmes on RTI that the State or any public authority constituted under it is just like the dealer of a good or service, whereas every citizen is a consumer. So every citizen has a right to know from a public authority their citizens' charter, which should mention not only the services and facilities one can avail, but also the procedure to avail them along with the particulars of appellate authority, before whom the aggrieved citizens can lodge their complaints. Further more, a suggestion was mooted that, like the Consumer Protection Act 1986, which provides for compensation to the aggrieved consumers, the legislation on Right to Information should contain a provision for compensation to the aggrieved information seeker, to be realized from the defaulting public authority as a penalty. Accordingly, a new Section in the Citizens' Draft Bill for Right to Information was added under the heading Compensation. This new idea was found to be gaining currency day by day as the campaign for RTI in Orissa progressed.

The Director Consumer Affairs, Orissa used to meet the consumer activists of the State on last Saturday of every month, with Federation of Consumer Organisations, Orissa playing the role of a coordinator. On 28th July 2001, there was such a meeting held at the Department of Consumer Affairs in the Orissa Secretariat, Bhubaneswar, which was attended by Mrs.Dolli Dash, Secretary and Ms.Mousami Sharma, a Social Worker of Project Swarajya.

On 17th November 2001, a Consumer Awareness Meeting was held at Town Hall, Cuttack under the aegis of Orissa Consumer Association, attended by Ms.Mousami Sharma and Sujata Mohapatra, Social Workers of Project Swarajya.

With a view to set up a District Consumer Information Centre at Cuttack, some ground work in terms of arranging the accommodation, contacting the District Administration and networking with resource persons was made during the year.

Project Swarajya is a Rural Technology, Demonstration and Training Centre recognized by NRDC (National Research Development Corporation) , New Delhi since the year 1994 in view of its continuing activities for popularizing and designing appropriate, low-cost and easy-to-handle technologies for the common people both in rural and urban areas.

In the year under review, the following appropriate technologies, which were provided by the NRDC continued to be operated and disseminated as in the previous years,

      Garment Making ( with the help of Tara Loom and Traditional Loom)
      Papad Making Machine
      Leaf Cup and Plate Making Machine
      Balaram Mud Block Press Machine

In addition to the above, the following innovative technologies were applied and popularized among the respective target groups:

      Turtle Excluder Device
      Fish aggregating Device
      Hygienic Fish drying Racks
      Integrated Paddy-cum-Fish Culture in saline and water logged areas
      Fish Pickling

It is worth mentioning here that while working on the Turtle Excluder Device, the Organisation came across a very interesting innovation, made by two fishermen of Paradip coast, who claimed that the new device could not only substitute TED, but also do away with the negative, controversial features of TED. The new Device, which was called as Trawl Guard by its designers, was also subject to a field trial in sea off Paradip coast on 11th Feb. 2002, the 3rd day of the Workshop-cum-Demonstration on TED, held jointly under the auspices of Directorate of Fisheries, Orissa and Project Swarajya. It is expected that by the start of the next turtle nesting season, the device would be ready for further trials by larger number of marine fishermen of Orissa coast, paving thereby the path for emergence of a fully indigenous model of turtle safe trawling device in India.

The Organisation participated in various programmes on Women and Child Development. A 'State level Workshop on Women Empowerment Movement' was held jointly by Basundhara and JEETA on 14th-15th April, 2001, to which collaboration was extended by the Organisation. Through this programme also a female human rights campaign in the State was carried further. Coincidentally, the Government declared this year as 'Year of Women Empowerment'.

On 12 and 13 May, 2001 there was a Regional Workshop on Law Enforcement and Gender Issues, organized at Bhopal by National Commission for Women, New Delhi in association with National Law Institute, University of Bhopal, which was attended by Mrs.Dolli Dash on behalf of Project Swarajya.

On behalf of Parivar Seva Sanstha, two-phase training programmes were held on Reproductive and Child Health at Cuttack on 24th April and 9-13 July 2001 attended by Sri Arvind Panda, Pharmacist and Ms.Sujata Mohapatra and Suchismita Tripathy, Social Workers of Project Swarajya respectively,

On 5th July 2001, a Campaign for popularising the breast feeding and prohibition of infants' milk substitutes and feeding bottles was inaugurated at Hotel garden Inn, Bhubaneswar under the aegis of CLAP, Cuttack, where Mr.Biraj Shukla took an active part on behalf of Project Swarajya.

After September 11 attack on WTO in USA, a 'silent Rally of candle-light campaign' against terrorism and for peace was organized by NAWO ( National Alliance of Women Organizations) and was partaken of by this Organization. Then again, a Rally and a Public Meeting against War and for Peace was organized on behalf of NAWO in Bhubaneswar on17th October, 2001 on the eve of 'World Poverty Eradication Day'. The Organization had taken part in organizing of this event.

A Workshop on 'Prevention of Girls-trafficking in Orissa' was held on behalf of Ramadevi Gopabandhu Choudhury Nidhi, Kasturaba Gandhi National Memorial Trust and Utkal Sarvodaya Mandal on 22nd Dec, 2001 at Gunanidhi Bhawan, Cuttack. The Organization had taken active role in organizing the programme. Besides the Organization was entrusted with the responsibility to identify the volunteers who will work in Mahakalpada Block for creating awareness among the people for prevention of women trafficking.

A National Women's Conference on 'Globalisation and Role of Women' was organized by CWS at Secunderabad during 2nd-6th DEC, 2001, attended inter alia by the Secretary of the Organisation, who also presented a paper on 'Globalisation and Role of NGOs'.

On 6th January 2002, a special meeting of women activists was held in the premises of Gopabandhu Bhavan, addressed by Mrs.Suman Krishnakant of Mahila Dakshata Samiti, where the Secretary of Project Swarajya took an active part.

On 28th Jan. 2002, an Interface with the veteran woman activist and freedom fighter of the State Smt. Annapurna Moharana was organised at Rashtrabhasa Bhavan, Cuttack, where the staff of Project Swarajya took an active part in its organisation and deliberations.

A district level Seminar on 'Law Related to Compensation of Women in Distress in Cyclone Affected Areas' was organized on 23 and 24 Feb 2002, by ISWO at Kendrapada and the Office of Project Swarajya was declared for working as a Grievance Cell for the district for the purpose.

The International Womens' Day was observed in 8th March, 2002 at Shahid Bhavan, Cuttack organised by the District Social Welfare Sction of Cuttack Collectorate, where the representatives of Project Swarajya, namely Mrs. Dolli Dash, Rukshana Khan and Mousami Sharma participated along with the members and staff of other Organisations.

At the V.V.Giri National Labour Institute, Ghaziabad, a Training Programme on 'Re-Energising Training of Trainers Participants' was held during February25-March1, 2002, at the end of which a National level Network, namely "TOT ALUMNI" was founded, in which Project Swarajya became a Founder-member and was also selected as the State Initiator for Orissa.

The programme of documentation on various social welfare issues continued as before, in the form of publications, collection of documents through websites and CD Roms along with the maintenance of a Library from earlier days. The interested journalists, NGOs and scholars were provided with information on various topics as and when they required, either through hard copies or electronic copies.

The work of Networking with various individuals and agencies in both Government and Non-Government sectors, based on different issues was also carried out through both traditional means of communication and advanced methods of email and internet.

The Secretary and Vice-President of the Organisation Mrs.Dolli Dash and Mrs.Nirupama Jena respectively took an active part in the obsernace of Legal Aid Day held at Shahid Bhavan, Cuttack on 9th November 2001 under the aegis of Orissa State Legal Aid and Advisory Board.

Bikash Yatra was a joint State level Campaign undertaken in the International Year of Voluntarism by several NGOs working in different parts of Orissa. The Campaign was organised through several form of programmes like Pada Yatra, Seminar, Meeting, Street Corner Meeting etc. in each of the places, covered by Bikash Yatra. Such activists of Project Swarajya as Mr.Biraj Shukla, Rukshana Khan and Darakshan Mahajabin took part in the Preparatory Meeting and Flag-Off Ceremony of Bikash Yatra held at Cuttack on 9th and 15th November 2001 respectively.

On 9th November 2001, a National Convention on Voluntary Action and Disaster Management was held at Soochana Bhavan, Bhubaneswar under the aegis of Voluntary Action Network of India ( VANI), attended by Sri Biraj Shukla of Project Swarajya.

A Workshop on Ensuring of Food Security through Sustainable Agriculture was held on 12-13 January 2002 at Sambhav, Nayagarh on behalf of NIPDT, Phulbani, attended by Ms.Rukshana Khan and Sujata Mohapatra , Social Workers of Project Swarajya.

A Workshop on AIDS/STD was held at City Hospital, Cuttack on 28th January 2002 by AIMS Research, and attended by Sri Sudhir Kumar Routray, Pharmacist of Drug Deaddiction Centre of Project Swarajya.

A Statelevel Fisheries Meet was held under joint auspices of IMPRESS and Directorate Fisheries, Orissa at Shahid Bhavan, Cuttack on 2nd February 2002, where Mrs.Dolli Dash, Secretary and Ms.Rukshana Khan, Project Director of Project Swarajya took active part in its proceedings.

The Birth Centenary of Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan was held at Town Hall, Cuttack on 2nd February 2002, where Ms.Mousumi Sharma and Sujata Mohapatra, Social Workers of Project Swarajya took part.

A Seminar on "Economic Reformation at Community Level" was organised by Cuttack District NGO Coordination Committee at Conference Hall of Collectorate, Cuttack on 21st March 2002, where Ms.Darakshan Mahajabin, Social Worker and Ms.Rukshan Khan, Project Director of Project Swarajya participated.

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