Naveen Patnaik is greening Odisha. And it has nothing to do with the environment

Monideepa Banerjie

Every day at 4 pm, students come charging out of school gates in Odisha towards buses lined up outside.

They resemble an artist’s mixing palette as they merge into the colourful world outside. But soon, the whole scene will lose its vibrancy and transform into a single colour.

School uniforms, buildings, walls, footpaths, posters, etc — everything will be turned into a mandatory green. The ‘green Odisha’ drive is already underway, and it isn’t limited to schools.

Everything is a verdant hue, from the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation logo to public buses and CM Naveen Patnaik’s posters. Government buildings will be painted over, too.

“The government is painting everything green. It won’t be a surprise if it suddenly asked school children to only carry green colours to school,” says corporatesector employee Tanya Reddy.

This is no greenwashing of Odisha; it is a new colour branding for the state ruled by five-term CM Patnaik. Not unlike Mamata Banerjee’s Kolkata turning blue-white and K.

ChandrashekarRao’s Hyderabad going pink. BijuJanata Dal (BJD), Odisha’s ruling party, is commonly represented by an English Elmlike green colour. But unlike other states, Odisha’s green is a politically loaded colour, especially in the Hindutva political era.

In March this year, BJP Sambalpur MLA Jayanarayan Mishra said that many schools in Odisha do not have enough teachers and students cannot even identify Odia alphabets, but the government is busy painting school buildings in “Pakistani colour” as part of its transformation programme.

“Green is a progressive colour; it goes with the environment and looks good. Moreover, the colour will help people recognise government buildings. If someone is in trouble, they can spot government offices and ask for help,” BJD MLA Swaroop Das told ThePrint.

According to Mukesh Mahaling, BJP MLA from Loisingha, schools are being painted green in the name of Odisha government’s 5T vision – a governance model based on transparency, technology, teamwork, time, and transformation.

All schools covered under this programme are supposed to receive upgraded smart classrooms, e-libraries, and laboratories, but they are being painted in BJD colours instead. Class IX and X students must compulsorily wear green uniforms, too.

“This is a clear case of wasteful spending. Schools and clothing are taking on colours of the Pakistani flag. They are prioritising painting over education. This kind of money can be used to build brand-new classrooms,” he says.