Agriculture
The name Salepur is primarily derived from the combination of two words viz. sali (Paddy) and Pur (Place). It is due to the reason that Salepur belt is one of the largest producers of Paddy in the State of Odisha because of its highly fertile soil. Irregulaties in Schemes sanctioned by Govt (Indira Awas, MNREGA projects, etc)
Irrigation
Failure of the Water Resources department to clean irrigation canals, which have turned into garbage dumps, has made farmers of Salipur block worried. The farmers alleged officials of Revenue and Water Resources departments are not checking the actual position of different canals which have dried up.
Apart from encroachment, while bushes have grown up to chest height, most of the canals are choked with garbage and other waste dumped by locals. The choked canals have left the farmers high and dry at a crucial stage of kharif season.
“We have been facing a lot of problems as no steps have been initiated by the Water Resources department to clean and clear the canals which are filled up with bushes and garbage. As our paddy fields are drying up, we have no option but to clean and clear the canal by ourselves to irrigate our fields,” said a few farmers of Salipur block who are cleaning irrigation sub-division by themselves.
Instead of cleaning the canals manually, the contractors deployed JCB machines to dig deep the canal beds to the extent much below the level of cultivated land. This hindered the flow of water to paddy fields. We have set up check points (bundhs) by placing clay on canal beds to store and lift water to irrigate our fields,” said the farmers.
Earlier, the canals were cleaning using spades manually. However, the contractors are using JCBs to save on cost of labour. Use of JCBs to clean the canals has also resulted in eroding of the canal embankments and eruption of multiple perforations, they alleged.
Generally, the perforations on canal embankments are repaired by ‘khalasis’ of Water Resources department. But as they are not turning up for work, it is a herculean task for the farmers to close multiple perforations.
Agriculture based industries
To achieve rural prosperity and ensure quality of life through increase in farm income and food production. Here in Salipur Constituency, as it is situated in the bank of River Mahanadi Farmers are able to produce vegetables and would rely upon Traders who in turn purchase the products at a very low price and then sell it to Distributors located at cities. If there would be an initiative from Government to set up Agriculture based Factories then both the farmers and Local businessman might be able to gain profit.
Health Care
There is also a Primary Health Centre (PHC) located at Salipur which has only turned out to be a First Aid Treatment hub and apart from this nothing else. In spite of building a Hi-Tech infrastructure PHC new building Doctors of various departments are not yet deployed and in most of the cases you would find that Patients are referred to S.C.B Cuttack for further treatment.
Jobs
As Per ‘NSSO Report on Unemployment’, The unemployment rate witnessed a sharp decrease in January 2024. According to the latest data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), an independent think-tank, the unemployment rate in India stood at 6.8 percent in January. The unemployment rate in India saw a decrease of 1.9 percent in a month, as it stood at 8.7 percent in December last year. The unemployment rate in January 2024 has been the lowest in the past 16 months. However, unemployment among youth aged between 20 and 30 has registered an increase in the Oct-Dec quarter of 2023. Unemployment in the youth aged between 20 and 24 increased to 44.49 percent, which was 43.65 percent in the July-September quarter. Similarly, unemployment among the youth aged between 25 and 29 increased to 14.33 percent in the Oct-Dec quarter of 2023, which stood at 13.35 percent in the previous quarter.
Drainage
Drainage has been always a major issue at Salipur due to lack of proper planning of drainage the shops and markets always throw their piles of garbage to the road or burn it. Which in turn acts as pile of wastage and also there is no such measures taken up by the Local bodies to deal with such type of issues.
During rainy seasons some of the roads are water logged even in incessant rainfall just because of lack of proper drains. Still after protests the Administration doesn’t pay any heeds to the concerned issues.
Cold Storage
As noted above; the farmers at Salipur constituency has to rely upon Traders or they have to sell their vegetables weekly twice at Mandi or ‘Haata’ if there would have been cold storage facilities by the Government then it would be a blessing in disguise for the farmers so that they can store it in Cold Storage and sell their crops at a fair prices.
Sports academy
The Block of Salipur has not only produced Engineers, Doctors or Lawyers but also Sports Persons. May it be early morning or evening you can very easily find athletes from different sports practicing in Saheswari Ground, which in turn is not only small but also only place for various functions taking place at the same time. There is a requirement for mini Stadium at Salipur which in turn not only would facilitate athletes but also encourage them for various other sports.