Sora Script

Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Gumma block schools

The list of schools in the Gumma block is as below: Gumma is a block (Taluk or Tehesil) located in the district of Gajapati in the state of .

Gumma Block, Gajapati District Schools -Sora Script

Tribal Leader Bhagirathi Gomango Dead.

Popular tribal leader and former Odisha Minister Bhagirathi Gamango passed away following prolonged illness, family sources said today.

Gamango (75), eminent Congress leader, who had been ailing for quite some time, died last evening while returning from Bhubaneswar to his village in Rayagada district, they said.

He was undergoing treatment at a private hospital here and was going back home after being discharged.

A popular leader in undivided Koraput district, Gamango was a six-time MLA and had served as minister between 1973 and 1977 holding different departments like supply, rural development, cooperation and agriculture.

A host of dignitaries and leaders, including Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly Bhupinder Singh and former Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang have condoled his death.

Describing Gamango as an able administrator and popular tribal leader, the Chief Minister said the late leader had contributed immensely for the uplift of dalits and tribals.

Bhupinder Singh hailed Gomango as a grass root level leader and said Odisha has lost a popular tribal leader.

Gajapati paralysed over student suicide.

Berhampur, Sept. 1: Life was paralysed in Gajapati district as activists of the Adivasi Mahasangh today observed a dawn-to-dusk strike, demanding immediate arrest of the former district collector and a former project administrator in connection with the suicide of a nursing student on August 13.

Most of the shops, business establishments and markets in the district closed their shutters today. Buses of the Odisha State Road Transport Corporation, Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation and the private owners were off roads. Similar was the case with autorickshaws and four-wheelers.

Thousands of activists staged protests in various parts of the district. Government offices, post offices, banks, schools and colleges were also closed. Police had made security arrangements across the district.

The 21-year-old Sunita Raita of Diptinagar in R Udayagiri ended her life after failing to get her nursing student stipend despite making repeated attempts for it over the past 16 months.

In her suicide note, she had blamed the then district collector, Basudev Bahinipati, and former project administrator of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Gajapati, Kalyan Kumar Rath.

Following her death, the state government had shifted both Bahinipati and Rath. Later, following an outcry, the government suspended the project director.

“We are not satisfied with the transfer or suspension. Till they are arrested, we will carry on with our agitation,” said Mahasangh president of the Gajapati district unit Abraham Gamango.

“The state government has sanctioned Rs 1 lakh for Sunita’s family. We demand at least Rs 20 lakh to the family as compensation,” said Gamango.

The fault is with the state government, and instead of helping the victim’s family, the government is shielding the erring officers, he said.

Former Odisha Chief Minister J.B Patnaik passes away

ormer Governor of Assam and three-time Chief Minister of Odisha Janaki Ballav Patnaik is no more. He passed away in a private hospital at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh at 3 am on Tuesday, family sources said.

Mr. Patnaik, a veteran Congress leader, was 89 years old and is survived by his wife Jayanti Patnaik, son Pruthvi Ballav Patnaik and two daughters – Sudatta Patnaik and Supriya Patnaik.

According to his son-in-law Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Mr. Patnaik had gone to Tirupati from Bhubaneswar on Monday to attend the convocation ceremony of Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha there on Tuesday. Mr. Patnaik was Chancellor of the university.

He felt pain in his chest at around 11 p.m. on Monday night and was rushed to a private hospital where he passed away at 3 a.m.

The body of the late leader will be brought to Bhubaneswar by a special flight in the afternoon for cremation at Swargadwara in Puri.

Mr. Patnaik had returned to Odisha in December last after completing his full term of five years as Governor of Assam.

He was born in Puri district on January 3, 1927. He was Chief Minister of Odisha from 1980 to 1989 and again from 1995 to 1999. He was also the Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly from 2004 to 2009.

Mr. Patnaik, who started his career as a journalist, was a Sanskrit scholar and wrote several books.

‘End of an era in Odisha politics’

Leaders cutting across party lines made a beeline for his residence in Bhubaneswar after the body was brought was brought from Tirupati..

Odisha Governor S.C. Jamir, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Ministers and leaders of various parties reached the Forest Park residence to pay floral tributes to the veteran Congress leader.

‘Multi-faceted’

“J.B. Patnaik will be remembered as a multi-faceted personality who influenced the socio-cultural and political life of Odisha for a long period. His death marks the end of an era in Odisha politics,” the Chief Minister said in a condolence message.

Sunita Raita suicide: Odisha govt suspends Gajapati PA, ITDA

Parlakhemundi, Aug 29,2014

Odisha Sun Times Bureau

The Odisha government has suspended Kalyan Kumar Rath, Project Administrator (PA) Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) Gajapati, who had been named in the suicide note of Suinta Raita, the tribal nursing student from Diptinagar in R Udayagiri block, who committed suicide on August 13 after failing to get the stipend due to her for 16 months.

The move to suspend the PA, ITDA comes barely a day after the government had shunted him out as sub collector of Baripada and is believed to have been prompted by the ongoing agitation by the Gajapati chapter of the Adivasi Mahasangh, which has been demanding his arrest in the case.

On August 17, the government had transferred Gajapati district collector Basudev Bahinipati, who was also named in the suicide note written by Sunita, and had replaced him with Manasi Nimbhal.

The dharna by members of the Adivasi Mahasangh in front of the collector’s office here protesting against government inaction against guilty officials in the matter entered its third day on Thursday.

The Mahasangh has called for a Gajapati shutdown on September 1.

It may be noted that Sunita, in her suicide note, had squarely blamed the district collector and the PA of the ITDA Gajapati for her death while making it clear that failure to get her stipend money was the reason behind her suicide.

Sunday, 12 April 2015

The Sora people

The Sora (alternative names and spellings include Saora, Saura, Savara and Sabara) are a tribe from Southern Odisha, north coastalAndhra Pradesh in India. They are also found in the hills of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The Souras are the second most prominent tribal community in the Rayagada district of Odisha and specific pockets of Koraput andGajapati districts. They are also present in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts. They are also sometimes called Lanjia Souras due to their dress pattern of wearing a loin cloth hanging from behind and which could be mistakenly identified as a tail by a stranger. They inhabit blocks of Gunupur, Padmapur and Gudari. Their highest concentration is found in the Puttasingi area, approximately 25 km away from Gunupur NAC. Although, they are close to the assimilation process, yet some interior GPs like Rejingtal, Sagada and Puttasingi have Souras who still retain their traditional tribal customs and traditions.

They are known by various names such as Savara, Sabara, Sora, and Soura. They are concentrated in parts of Gunupur adjoining to the blocks of Gumma, Serango of Gajapati district. The Saoras speak a Munda language. However, written language in Saora is not followed by all. They practice shifting cultivation, with a few gradually taking up settled agriculture. Like Dangaria Kandha they belong to Proto-Australoid racial stock.

They are endogamous and the clan, although absent, is related to Birinda, which is exogamous. Families are nuclear although joint or extended families are also found. Marriages are made by bride capture, elopement, and by negotiations.

The Sora people are a dwindling jungle tribe with a distinctive shamanic culture. According to an article in Natural History, "a shaman, usually a woman, serves as an intermediary between the two worlds [of the living and the dead]. During a trance, her soul is said to climb down terrifying precipices to the underworld, leaving her body for the dead to use as their vehicle for communication. One by one the spirits speak through her mouth. Mourners crowd around the shaman, arguing vehemently with the dead, laughing at their jokes, or weeping at their accusations.

Instead of clan organization they have their extended families called Birinda, which consists of descendants from a common ancestors of four to five generation. The Saoras' religion is very elaborate and deep rooted. They are polytheist and believe in large number of deities and ancestral spirits. They practice both Podu and terraced cultivation with varieties of cereals. Dance and music constitute part and parcel of their rich aesthetic life.

The Saora family is polygamous. The total household economy revolves around the woman member who is hardworking and who helps her husband in ploughing and harvesting crops in addition to attending household chores exclusively.

Friday, 27 March 2015

The Soura and the Oriya

Saura Children Praying at the Muriel Bent

Youth Hostel in Orissa, India

Along with spending time in India with the Kui tribal community and churches, Aaron, Terry, C.P. and Suraj had opportunity to meet with the church leadership of both the Suara and Oriya communities, and visit their communities. Similar to the Kui people, both the Suara and Oriya struggle with lack of access to education for their children. Again and again the church leaders asked for prayer for their children and youth. It was exciting to see how many churches are working together to improve their facilities and offer evening literacy classes to their community. “All of our churches are multifunctional,” shared one Suara pastor. “God has given us this house to serve one another!"