What people in Sarangada are saying

“I am a new teacher.”

“He is Madan Mohan Pradhan from Sasimaha village. He spoke about developed India, agriculture, and education.”

“Sir, regarding development in India, what suggestions would your government give? Sir, firstly, no, education and no, no, my name is Madan Mohan Pradhan, sir. Gram Panchayat Judika, village Sashima. Afterwards, we first give more importance to education and then to agriculture. That's it. Now, I hope it will contribute to the country's development. Thank you.”

“I wondered about the role of public opinion in politics and especially in democracy. So if we look back at the idea of democracy from ancient Greece to the present, public opinion is usually assumed to have a positive role. This role of public opinion can be understood in different ways. In direct democracy or in ancient democracy, public opinion is often understood as the opinion of all citizens. And this opinion is supposed to represent the good of the community and the public interest. Now in modern representative democracy, public opinion is not exactly the same thing as the opinion of all citizens because it takes place in a large scale society. So public opinion is more likely to be understood as the opinion of the majority of people, the majority of the population. But usually again, this majority opinion is supposed to represent the good of the community and the public interest. Of course, this positive role of public opinion can be challenged and it has been challenged by different authors throughout history. But usually, this assumption of a positive role of public opinion has been dominant. Now, how can this public opinion be measured? Throughout history, people have tried to find different ways to measure public opinion. The most recent and probably the most common way is opinion polls or surveys. But before that, we had other methods like the voting system. So elections were a way to measure public opinion. Or earlier than that, we had petition, we had letters, we had essays and so on. And even earlier, we had assemblies. So if we look at those different methods, we can see that they have specific characteristics. For example, some methods require that people express themselves as individuals. This is the case for letters or for petition. Some other methods involve collective expression of opinion. This is the case for assemblies or for public meetings. Moreover, some methods provide an estimation of the support for each opinion. This is the case for voting system, for example, elections, where we know that this candidate got 50% of the vote. And some other methods like essays or letters, they only provide examples of opinion, but not an estimation of the support. So if we look at opinion polls, opinion polls have the characteristic to be an individual expression of opinion, and it also provides an estimation of the support for each opinion, which is often expressed as percentages. So for example, we know that 50% of the population support this policy or 60% of the population support this candidate. So this is the way that opinion polls measure public opinion and express it. Now, why has public opinion become such a central concept in political science and more specifically in the study of democracy? The main reason is that public opinion is assumed to be an important source of legitimacy for political power. In a democracy, political power is supposed to belong to the people, and so the decisions made by the government are supposed to reflect the will of the people. So if we want to know what the will of the people is, we need to be able to measure public opinion. And this is why public opinion polls have become so important. They are seen as a way to understand what the public wants and to ensure that the government's decisions are in line with the public's wishes. So in this sense, public opinion serves as a crucial link between the citizens and the government, making it an indispensable part of democratic governance.”

“Hello. I am Nanima Pradhan from Dadi Village. Government, please provide us with oil and dal in the mid-day meal.”

“Novera village, Dovoma gram panchayat, Jhidikia block, Konaga, Kandhamal district. This should be provided in PDS, which includes pulse-type food like horse gram or Kanduru dal. If it is linked with PDS, then poor families will be benefited, along with an increase in their standard of living, and the family will be improved, and children will also be able to get nutritious food.”

“Namita Pradhan said that business is in poultry farming.”

“From now on, yes, too. Hey ma'am, if you are given twenty thousand rupees, which business would you choose? Yes, I will just play cards. Hey Pradhan, let's do the paperwork.”

“My name is Naresh Pradhan, from Dalabali village, Jiridikia Gram Panchayat, K. Nuagaon Block, Kandhamal District. Currently, due to a shortage of seeds and lack of irrigation, we are unable to cultivate a second crop. Therefore, please provide us with seeds for cultivating a second crop.”

“Sir, greetings. My Nani Ma, Pradhan Gram Daddy. We are all concerned and will work to ensure that our culture always remains for the next generation to learn and preserve it.”

“Name Devaraj Pradhan, Village Sasimaha GP, Jiridikia Block, K. Nuagaon, Kandhamal District. In PDS, local dal (pigeon pea) is provided. If horse gram dal is also provided, it will improve poor families.”