Management of Ferry Ghat at Sonepur

Bishnupada Sethi

Introduction

The District Sonepur is situated in the Western part of Orissa bounded by Bargarh on the North, Angul and Boudh on the East, Boudh on the South and Balangir in the West. There are two sub-divisions in the district namely Sonepur and Birmaharajpur. The river Mahanadi has been the greatest barrier to communication between the two. However, this barrier has been the only source livelihood for a certain community of Sonepur town and Raxa Gram Panchayat Birmahrajpur sub-division. From time immemorial, these people belonging to the KEUTA community, a scheduled caste, have been ferrying people across the river to earn their living.

Even though these people have been engaged in the job of ferry service, they have always acted under some contractors or middlemen. Lack of organizational ability and financial resources have placed them in the clutches of middlemen. Most of them live in acute poverty and depend on moneylenders for small needs at the time of crises, festivals and religious ceremonies. Lack of education has pushed them further down in the social order.

To add the bitterness of their predicament, a new bridge is under construction over the river. While from the point of view of the overall development of the area the constructions of the bridge is essential, as far as these boatmen are concerned, life can become only miserable the day the project is inaugurated.

The District Administration has proposed to take certain steps to organize the boatmen, free them from the middlemen and enable them to stand on their own feet within a short period i.e. the duration of the construction of the bridge.

Past practice

From the records available, Sonepur Municipality managed the ferry ghat until 1986-87. Their report shows that they made losses and asked for the PWD (Public Works Department) authority to hike the fare. When the fare was not hiked, the Municipal Council disengaged itself from the management of the ferry ghat in the year 1987. The departmental management resulted in widespread leakage of revenue and resulted in losses to the Government. The following table depicts the financial situation.

Year	Revenue Expenses ( Rs.)	Revenue Collection ( Rs.)
1986-87	74204	56146
1987-88	252513	70193
1988-89	171383	62681
1989-90	177728	50809
1990-91	214281	51756
1992-93	278838	48996
1993-94	209431	44961
1994-95	240314	33393
1995-96	204843	27705

In 1998 it was decided to go for public auction and contractor took over the management from October, 1998. This period of management is remembered with disgust by the people of the district. For threats were often used by the contractor’s men to collect higher fares than those prescribed from the poorer passengers. This naturally generated discontentment in the general public and led to the filing of a writ petition in the High Court of Orissa. The public also agitated against the auction and the manner of operation by the contractor, and as a measure of protest, on 1.4.99, some of them started the ferry operation on their own.

Whatever may have been the previous management, the boatmen were never in the control of the ghat. During the time of management by Sonepur Municipality or by the Contractor, they were under the control of some middlemen.

Problems:

The district administration tried to examine the problem holistically. Some of the challenges before it were as follows:

How to organize the best possible management of the ferry ghat.
How to ensure that the general public was not forced to pay excess fare.
How to improve the safety of the services?
How to ensure that the government did not incur recurring losses in managing the ferry ghat?
How to free the boatmen from the control of middlemen?
How to improve the living conditions of the families of the boatmen and enable them to stand on their feet by the time the bridge across Mahanadi comes into operation. It was likely that the bridge will be constructed within 10 years.

The Present Arrangement

A meeting was convened on 3.8.99 wherein all concerned were present and certain decisions taken unanimously. They are:

A society of the boatmen in the name of ‘ NABIKA KALYAN SAMITI’ is to be formed wherein the District Collector and other administrators of the district shall play a substantial role. The society shall manage the ferry ghat without any involvement of middlemen.

To take certain safety measures, all the boats shall be marked with free board line and they shall keep inflated motor tubes, which can be used at the time of emergency. A register is to be maintained detailing the names and address of the passengers being ferried on both sides of the river.

There shall be introduction of printed tickets and no one shall be charged extra amount than the prescribed rates of the administration. No person below the age of 18 years would be engaged in the ferry service. The society shall save a pre-determined amount from their daily earnings, which will be used as credit among the members. The society can institute scholarships for the promotion of education among the Keutas and take up other welfare measures with the help of group fund.

Since the meeting, a society, NABIKA KALYAN SAMITI, has been formed with a membership of 86 families from both the sides of the river. Traditionally, these families have been engaged in the ferry operation. The members have elected their office bearers such as President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. An important feature of the bye-law is that the Collector has been given the responsibility of supervising the affairs of the society. The executive committee under the Chairmanship of Collector has been formed. The managing committee of the boatmen is to function under its supervision and guidance. The other members of the executive committee are Sub-Collector, Sonepur, Chairman, Sonepur Municipality, Sarpanch, Raxa Gram Panchayat and Executive Engineer, R&B, Balangir.

The managing committee has already decided to contribute 20 % of the daily earnings of the society to the group fund. The fund shall be used for providing internal credit. They have also instituted scholarships to encourage and facilitate the education of the children of the Keutas. It is estimated that there can be a saving of about Rs.3.0 lakhs annually which can be used for internal circulation. The amount can also be used for financing economic activities among the group members. When the group becomes stronger, banking institutions may be associated to further their economic development.

In the meantime, the Government have been moved to approve the following arrangement:

Since the Government had incurred losses in managing the ferry ghat, and given its current precarious position of both the ferry ghat and its management, the society may be exempted from the payment of any royalty. Another reason for the appeal for exemption is that the earnings would be used for the purpose of the economic development of the poor persons belonging to the 86 families.

Authority to prescribe the fare in different seasons may be delegated to the District Collector.

The R&B authority should take up the construction of fair weather road inside the riverbed during the summer season according to the present practice.

Conclusion:

The present arrangement is the culmination of events over a period of many years. All the parties involved in the ferry ghat operation have given their consent for the present arrangement. Besides taking care of the interest of the general public, the focus of the arrangement is on the overall economic development of the poor people-basically the boatmen within a limited period of 10 years. However, proper guidance and monitoring by the district administration of the new arrangement and establishment of linkages with banking institutions would be necessary to ensure its success in the long run.

Bishnupada Sethi, a member of the Indian Administrative Service, is presently District Magistrate
and Collector, Rayagada ( Orissa, India ). He prepared this paper when he held the charge of Sonepur District.

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