Poverty politics

The Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput region comes into focus as the blame game over its neglect begins ahead of civic polls.

PRAFULLA DAS in Bhubaneswar

WITH Orissa readying for the three-tier panchayati raj elections scheduled for February, a fresh round of political blame game has begun over the tribal-dominated Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) region's continued backwardness.

Various ongoing welfare and development measures, including the Revised Long-Term Action Plan (RLTAP), have failed to improve the socio-economic conditions of the people. No serious effort has been made to understand the reasons for the failure of the RLTAP to bring any perceptible change to the region, which is known for its low literacy level and abject poverty. According to official figures, a total outlay of Rs.6,251.08 crores was envisaged for KBK under the RLTAP, covering a project period of nine years, from 1998-99 to 2006-07. The funds were to be utilised for the development of agriculture, horticulture and irrigation; afforestation; drought-proofing through watershed development; providing health care, drinking water and rural connectivity; emergency feeding; and the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In spite of this, the percentage of families living below the poverty line (BPL) has shown an increasing trend.

The 1991 Census had indicated that 71.40 per cent of the families in the KBK districts were below the poverty line. The Central government's National Sample Survey conducted in 1999-2000, however, showed that about 78 per cent of the rural people of these districts belonged to the BPL category as against the State average of 47.15 per cent.

The KBK region accounts for 19.72 per cent of the State's population and over 30.59 per cent of its geographical area. The KBK region was divided in 1992 to form eight districts - Kalahandi, Nuapada, Bolangir, Sonepur, Nawrangpur, Malkangiri, Koraput and Rayagada.

The people of the region, with 38.72 per cent of them belonging to various tribal communities, suffer from high morbidity on account of under-nutrition and endemic diseases such as malaria, according to the latest economic survey of the State government. In fact, in August the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) expressed distress over the failure of the State in dealing with the menaces of malaria and diarrhoea in the region. It recommended the extension of the RLTAP beyond March 2007 to achieve the ultimate objective of drought-proofing, poverty alleviation and improving the quality of life of the people. The Commission has been monitoring the development programmes for KBK since 1996 under a Supreme Court mandate.

Out of the total 80 community development blocks, 49 are regarded as very backward and 28 as backward. Only three - Karlamunda in Kalahandi, Dunguripali in Sonepur and Podia in Malkangiri - are treated as "developing" blocks. The State has 314 blocks in 30 districts.

All the KBK districts are ecologically disturbed. More than 50 per cent of the forest cover in these districts has degraded, aggravating the problem of poverty. Road connectivity remains a major constraint, making access to markets, health care and educational institutions difficult.

The literacy level continues to be abysmal. The literacy rate stands at 36.58 per cent compared with the State average of 63.61 per cent. More than 60 per cent of the girls in the region marry below the age of 18 as against the national average of 36.80 per cent.

Although numerous schemes have been implemented, employment opportunities continue to be limited. Since agriculture, the main economic activity, does not generate enough employment, the region has been witnessing large-scale distress migration. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) will face an acid test in KBK in the coming months if trains passing through the region continue to be packed to capacity with people migrating to work in brick kilns in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The current hullabaloo over the KBK region started in August with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik blaming the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre for the gross neglect of the region. He alleged that the Centre had decided to discontinue the RLTAP. (However, a visiting Planning Commission team raised hopes by reiterating that the plan would continue.) Stating that the funds for KBK would now flow from the Backward Region Grants Fund (BRGF), resulting in a decrease of Rs.120 crores a year, Patnaik announced a Rs.600-crore plan, Biju KBK Yojana, to supplement the RLTAP.

While smaller parties described Patnaik's action as an attempt to help the ruling Biju Janata Dal strengthen its base in KBK and hide his failures, the Congress, the main Opposition party, was caught unawares. State Congress leaders approached Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and requested him to visit Orissa. Although Manmohan Singh failed to tour the KBK region owing to inclement weather, in Bhubaneswar he tried to set the records straight by saying that there was no question of his government neglecting KBK. "We will continue to give Rs.250 crores [a year] for the next six years to the KBK districts. This is in comparison to the Rs.700 crores given by the National Democratic Alliance government and Rs.500 crores given by us in two years [of rule]."

Manmohan Singh said the Centre would "fully support" all efforts for the development of the KBK districts and the rest of Orissa. "If the State wants any special rules for KBK districts, we will consider it."

While politicians thrive by making tall promises from time to time and bureaucrats in New Delhi and Bhubaneswar confine themselves to framing policies, the talk of the administration adopting a pro-poor approach at the ground level remains a subject of discussion in seminars and review meetings.

The administrators seem not to have bothered to read the official reports, which have pointed out deficiencies in the implementation of the RLTAP. The recommendations of a three-member team of the Planning Commission that visited the region in July 2005 is gathering dust.

In its 46-page report, the Planning Commission team had suggested that the Chief Administrator, Special Area Development (KBK) Project, should be located in Kalahandi, in the middle of the region, for effective implementation of the programmes and be given all powers of Chief Secretary. At present, the project's headquarters is in Koraput.

"While inspecting the construction activities, it was observed that the estimates are on the higher side. The quality of construction did not seem to be satisfactory," the Planning Commission team had pointed out.

The NHRC in August called for all-out efforts to eradicate poverty, saying that poverty by itself was "the greatest violator of human rights".

Expressing displeasure over the implementation of the rules that prohibit transfer of land in the Scheduled areas, the Commission said "not much has been done so far in changing land relationships to the legitimate advantage of the tribal population whose livelihood system was dependent on land resources".

The Commission took strong exception to the failure of the State government in effectively combating the menaces of malaria and diarrhoea, which keep recurring in the KBK region. The shortage of doctors remains a major problem in the region.