___________

A brief description of the program is given here and here. Following are some excerpts.

About PMRDF The Ministry of Home Affairs has identified 60 districts of the country as Left Wing Extremism (LWE) districts. The Government of India has launched a special programme in these districts called Integrated Action Plan (IAP). On 13th of September, Union Minister of Rural Development Mr. Jairam Ramesh announced a scheme of PM’s Rural Development Fellows for deploying young professionals in each of the IAP districts to assist the District Collector. Mission PMRDFs will basically function as development facilitators, they will assist the Collector and his/her colleagues in each of the IAP districts and provide them with the necessary analysis of situations and how they should be handled. The fellows would actively pursue a district programming approach following three key strategies given below:

• Strengthen the district resource base for programming by finding ways of resourcing all the planned activities and rational budgeting.

• Establish or strengthen systems by exploring alternative ways of delivering services to reach the most deprived communities.

• Trigger processes which would support the changes that have been envisioned in this approach (e.g. village planning).

This would be complemented by a set of supportive actions such as building the capacity of district and block officials; triggering district-wide social mobilization processes particularly among the youth; achieve a ground swell of support and build strong relationships with the Panchayats.

The number of districts is now 78 instead of 60. Each of these districts will have two fellows. 18 of those districts are in Odisha. They are listed below. We welcome the 36 fellows that will be working in those districts in Odisha and will be happy to help them in any way possible.

Update on May6th 2012: 300 crores for Malkangiri and Sukma (Chhatisgarh) under the Special Area Development plan (SADP).

The initial list of 83 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts under Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme is at http://mha.nic.in/pdfs/LWE-aftdDist-131210.pdf. A jpg copy is given below.

In the 83 SRE districts all the expenses incurred on security in these districts are reimbursed by the MHA. These districts were identified after a survey where Maoist violence incidents are more than 20 percent of all the incidents in that district.

As per a recent news item in Pioneer, four more districts from Odisha have been included in this list. They are: Nuapada, Bargarh, Bolangir and Kalahandi.

Besides the LWE SRE scheme, there is an Integrated Action Plan for Backward and Tribal districts. Originally there were sixty such districts out of which:

(a) Five are in Odisha. They are: Deogarh, Gajapati, Malkangiri, Rayagada and Sambalpur. Each of these districts get a block grant of 30 crores.

(b) The eight KBK districts are also included in the IAP and they get the 30 crores each plus 130 crores for all 8 as part of the BRGF (Backward Regions Grant Fund). The eight KBK districts are:  Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Balangir and Sonepur.

(c) As per a recent news item in Pioneer, three more districts from Odisha have been included in this list. They are: Ganjam, Nayagarh and Jajpur.

In total there are 14 districts from Odisha that are covered under the IAP. They are: Balangir, Deogarh, Gajapati, Ganjam, Jajpur, Kalahandi, Koraput, Malkangiri,  Nabarangpur, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sonepur.

In total, 20 of Odisha’s 30 districts are now covered under these schemes. Following is the list.

• Balangir (IAP, KBK, LWE SRE)
• Baragarh (LWE SRE)
• Deogarh (IAP, LWE SRE)
• Dhenkanal (LWE SRE)
• Gajapati (IAP, LWE SRE)
• Ganjam (IAP, LWE SRE)
• Jajpur (IAP, LWE SRE)
• Kalahandi (IAP, KBK, LWE SRE)
• Kandhamal (LWE SRE)
• Keonjhar (LWE SRE, LWE SRE)
• Koraput (IAP, KBK, LWE SRE)
• Malkangiri (IAP, KBK, LWE SRE) (Update: SADP)
• Mayurbhanj (LWE SRE)
• Nabarangpur (IAP, KBK, LWE SRE)
• Nayagarh (IAP, LWE SRE)
• Nuapada (IAP, KBK, LWE SRE)
• Rayagada (IAP, KBK, LWE SRE)
• Sambalpur (IAP, LWE SRE)
• Sonepur (IAP, KBK)
• Sundergarh (LWE SRE)

The ten districts that are not covered above are: Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Bauda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Jharsuguda, Kendrapada, Khurda and Puri.

As per the article below the six most backward districts of Odisha are: Gajapati, Kandhamal, Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur.

See our earlier posting at http://www.orissalinks.com/orissagrowth/archives/5102 for various data about these districts. In particular the ST% of these six districts are as follows:

• Gajapati: 47.88%
• Koraput: 50.67%
• Malkangiri: 58.36%
• Nawarangpur: 55.27%
• Phulbani (Kandhamala): 51.51%
• Rayagada: 56.04%

The ST% of the other districts which we earlier identified as backward are:

• Bolangir: 22.06%
• Boudh: 12.92%
• Kalahandi: 28.88%
• Keonjhar: 44.52%
• Mayurbhanj: 57.87%
• Nuapada: 35.95%

One other point to note is Sundergarh has 50.74% tribal population. Yet it is not a backward state. The reason is "Rourkela". I hope the people who blindly oppose industries in the backward districts would take note of this fact.

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=67682.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved commencement of an Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for Selected Tribal and Backward Districts to cover identified 60 districts as an Additional Central Assistance (ACA) scheme on 100% grant basis. This is in pursuance of the Finance Minister’s announcement in his Budget Speech of 2010-11 and the Prime Minister’s address to the National Development Council on 24th July, 2010.

The scheme will, to begin with, be implemented over two years i.e. 2010-11 to 2011-12 with the following Components:

(i) In the current year (2010-11), a block-grant of ` 25 crore will be made available to each of the 60 selected districts for which the schemes will be decided by a Committee headed by the District Collector with District SP and District Forest Officer as members. During the year 2011-12, the block grant will be raised to ` 30 crore per district. The scheme will be reviewed for implementation in the 12th Plan at a later stage.

(ii) The existing KBK plan under BRGF will continue as before with annual allocation of ` 130 crore for all eight districts put together. The eight KBK districts have also been included under the IAP and will get additional block grant of ` 25 crore per district in the current year and suitable additional amount under both State and District Components of IAP in the subsequent years.

(iii) The scheme will focus on improvements in governance and specific preconditions will need to be complied with by the States before availing of the second tranche of the proposed additional financial assistance in 2011-12 under the State Component of the IAP. However, these conditionalities will not apply to the District Components of IAP.

(iv) The scheme will focus on effective implementation of the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (Forest Rights Act).

(v) A mechanism for procurement and marketing of MFPs, including issues of manpower requirement, capacity building and development of value chain specific to MFPs would be worked out by the Planning Commission, in consultation with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The administrative mechanism for enforcement of the minimum support price for MFP in accordance with the mechanism so work out will be the responsibility of the State Government concerned.

(vi) The District Component will be administered by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the State Component by the Planning Commission.

AD/LV/RK

Following is from a PIB release dated 5th October 2010.

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure

05-October-2010 19:48 IST

Upgradation of road from Vijayawada to Ranchi approved

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) today approved improvement of balance 600 Km. of State roads in Orissa with a view to develop, in a phased manner, the entire 1632 Km. long Left Wing extremism affected Vijayawada-Ranchi corridor at an estimated cost of Rs.1200 crore. The project will be completed in next three years by March, 2014.

The project will also provide a good communication network between the tribal districts of Orissa and other developed areas in the State as well as to the neighbouring States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

The project will cover Malkangiri, Jaypore, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhmal, Boudh, Sambalpur, Angul, Deogarh, Koenjhar and Mayurbhanj districts in Orissa.

BACKGROUND:

In view of growing activities of Left Wing Extremists in various States, the stretch between Vijayawada-Ranchi Route was considered for development as an integrated project by Central and State Governments. In Sept., 2009, the Government took decision to sanction remaining stretches of National Highways on Vijayawada Ranchi route in Orissa for widening to two-lane standards and undertaking preparation of Detail Project Reports (DPRs) for 600 Km. length of State Roads, which are not covered under any other programme.

***

AKT/SH/SM

Various KBK statistics are known to everyone here as well as to the planning commission. We will not rehash them here. We will just like to point out that various programs in KBK (such as RLTAP) will not work to their potential unless qualified people are willing to be there to implement those programs and unless there are enough local people who are qualified. For example, one can open schools and hospitals and initiate irrigation projects. But if teachers, doctors and engineers do not go there in sufficient numbers to staff the schools, hospitals and irrigation projects they will not achieve their impact. So while we make programs for schools, hospitals and irrigation projects we need to pay attention to the infrastructure aspects that will (a) create enough local teachers, doctors and engineers and (b) will not deter teachers, doctors and engineers to come to this place.

With that in mind we propose that the following be pushed with the central government for implementation in the next 7 years  — the remaining part of the 11th plan and the 12th plan starting in 2012. I think the list below is doable. (Much more needs to be aimed for and done through the state government, industries and people in this region; but here we only focus on what one can realistically push with the central government and achieve.)

1. Railway Infrastructure: The Railway infrastructure of the KBK districts need to be drastically improved. In particular there are several approved lines that need to be speeded up. In addition there are some hanging lines that need to be extended and completed. The following shows the current Railway lines in Odisha.

The following picture shows the lines that bring better rail connectivity to the KBK districts. The ones in brown have been approved and we request that they be completed within the next 2-3 years and. We request that the ones in blue are approved and completed within 5 years.

2. Airport at Jeypore:  Currently Odisha has one airport with commercial flights. That is in Bhubaneswar. AAI is in the process of making another airport at Jharsuguda. We propose that another airport be built near Jeypore-Koraput with commercial flights in mind (small planes to start with) to serve the KBK area. An airstrip is already there.  The following map shows the location and its distance from the other airports in India.

3. Roads: On roads, we request that the construction of the Vijaywada-Ranchi highway be expedited.  More.

4. HRD/Education: The 11th plan has good proposals regarding schools, ITIs and model colleges. But as we said in the beginning of this document, KBK needs to produce its own teachers, doctors and engineers.

As a first step the Odisha government decided to locate the Central University of Odisha in Koraput. However, considering the vast area of KBK, we request the following.

4.1   The 11th plan has provision for having medical colleges and engineering colleges in 5 of the 16 new central universities. (See the page from Volume 3 of 11th plan below.) We request that the one of those medical college and engineering college be established as part of the Central University of Orissa, Koraput.

4.2   A centrally funded engineering college of the kind in Longowal Punjab (SLIET), Kokrajhar Assam and the one being made in Malda (GKCIET): These three centrally funded engineering colleges have rural focus and we request that one such rural focused 3-tier (catering to workers, technicians and engineers) is needed for KBK. We request that it be made in Balangir. In the next page we have cut-outs related to the above mentioned three colleges which show their mission perfectly matches what is needed in the KBK districts.

4.3 Upgradation of Food Craft Institute Balangir to an Institute of Hotel Management.

4.4 Some kind of a centrally funded institute in Kalahandi: One has to be realistic in pursuing something that is achievable; something central government has established in smaller towns in other states; something with similar philosophy as SLIET/GKCIET/CIT-Kokrajhar but in a different field.

Added on Dec 11th 2010: I think a Central Agricultural University can be pushed for Kalahandi. Currently a Central Agricultural University exists in Imphal (http://www.cau.org.in/). I came across the news item in http://bundelkhand.in/portal/NEWS/Centre-clears-an-AIIMS-like-institute-for-Jhansi-Bundelkhand that says "the Union agriculture ministry had given the go-ahead to develop a central agriculture university in Jhansi". So a similar one can be pushed for Kalahandi.

4.5 Special funding for proposed state Universities in KBK: The Odisha government higher education task force has recommended new state universities to be made in Jeypore (Koraput), Bhawanipatna (Kalahandi) and Balangir. We request that the central government give a one time 50 crore grant to each of these proposed universities so that they can be started at the earliest.

 5. Job Centers:

• Wagon factory in Kalahandi.
• Tourist infrastructure around Gandhamardan hills and Harishankar.
• Tourist infrastructure around Kolab dam and tribal hamlets of Koraput.

6. KBK+: In addition in the KBK+ district of Kandhamal a branch of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU) can be realistically pursued and achieved.

Final Word: Please make additional suggestions. But be realistic. Also, note that here we are talking about what to pursue with the central government.

People reading this blog must must have seen the news about the Saxena committee (which was empowered by Jairam Ramesh and the environment ministry) report on Vedanta’s operations in Lanjigarh, Odisha.

Although the report reads like an activist team’s report, the fact remains that the laws of the country are sacred and needs to be followed.

It is a different matter that laws are broken with impunity at all levels ranging from the laws reported to be broken by Vedanta to normal people extending their houses and gardens into government land, groups building temples as a ruse to capture government land where ever they feel like, people blocking roads, trains, doing bandhs whenever they feel like, etc. etc. In India laws are broken with impunity and are broken more often than they are adhered to. But this does not excuse what Vedanta is reported to have done. The committee report also rebukes the Odisha government for its hand in the whole affair.

However, one needs to put this report in perspective with what the environment ministry and Jairam Ramesh have found in rest of India. Following are excerpts from a report in rediff.in that gives us some added perspective.

… several industrialists are also upset about what they call Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh’s activist-like positions. "He is taking positions, which are normally associated with unreasonable activists and their organisations," says one leading industrialist whose project is stuck. …

… Data from the ministry’s website show that of the 58 projects that have come up for Coastal Regulation Zone clearance since April 2009, it gave only half a dozen of them the green signal.

Over 1,800 projects are awaiting clearances as of the first week of this month.

…"There are people who consciously instigate and organise people in coastal Andhra against projects coming up in the region," says a spokesperson of a power company,  which is promoting a project in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

"Land availability is a big issue in India. Developers can approach the ministry only after either acquiring the land or have assurances to get the land, to request for the terms of reference to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment study. By that stage, a lot of investment and time may have gone into execution of the projects, and still you are not sure of getting the clearance," says Sanjay Sethi, executive director (infrastructure) at Kotak Investment Banking.

"It is necessary to have more transparent and clear guidelines and checklists for land available for various commercial and industrial uses, with clear maps of sensitive zones, which should be easily available to project developers," he adds.

… To be fair to the environment ministry, there are issues like misrepresentation of facts by project developers and the state, or conflicting reports on issues by expert panels.

In a recent development, the environmental clearances for at least four projects in an around Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh were suspended by the ministry.

On July 15, the ministry cancelled the clearance given to Nagarjuna Construction Company’s 2,640 megawatt (Mw) coal-based super critical thermal power plant at Gollagandi and Baruva villages in Srikakulam.

An expert panel said most of the project land allocated by the state government might be regarded as wetland, contrary to an earlier panel report that the 750 acres of grasslands were barren and not fit for agriculture.

The same expert panel, which visited East Coast Energy’s 2,640 Mw thermal project near Kakarapalli village in Srikakulam during the same time, found the state government had ignored reports on the ecological value of low lying areas of the well recognised Naupada swamps wetland and migratory bird breeding in nearby Telineelapuram of Srikakulam.

"This amounts to suppression/distortion of facts," the panel said.

A nearby project – that of JSW’s 1.4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) alumina refinery and a co-generation plant – is also being reviewed by the ministry.

… On June 28, the ministry directed the formation of a supervisory committee to monitor the influence of toxic effluents from JSW Energy’s 1,200 Mw thermal power plant at Jaigad in Maharashtra, following apprehensions that effluents could affect the quality of Alphonso mangoes and cashew orchards in the region.

… Ten days before that, Jindal Power Limited drew the wrath of the ministry for commencing construction of a 2,400 Mw power project at Tamnar in Chhattisgarh,  without obtaining prior environment clearance.

The ministry has directed the state government to stop work and initiate action against the Naveen Jindal-promoted company.

Some of the other high-profile projects that have been halted include the Maheshwar Hydroelectric project on the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh on grounds that the conditions of the statutory environmental clearance were not complied with and the resettlement and rehabilitation of the project-affected families was less than satisfactory – charges denied by the state chief minister and the company.

… Also, many say the minister has involved himself in much-publicised wars of words with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel over the environment ministry’s reluctance to clear the Navi Mumbai international airport, citing destruction of mangroves, razing of a hill and diversion of two rivers; with Road Transport Minister Kamal Nath, who openly accused him of blocking projects;

… But, even his sharpest critics agree on one thing: Ramesh has made sure that no one can treat the environment ministry lightly any longer.

… "This is probably the first time that an environmentalist has become a minister. He is almost single-handedly bringing about a paradigm shift within the government about how to view progress and development," says Pandey.

I agree with the sentence in the red. Earlier companies and state governments were not taking the environment ministry that seriously. Ramesh’s actions will make sure that everyone take the environment ministry seriously. That is a good thing and kudos to Mr. Ramesh for that.

However, as far as Odisha is concerned Jairam Ramesh seems to have something against it. We say that for the following reasons.

• When Odisha was trying for an IIT Jairam Ramesh insulted Odisha with his comments. See http://www.orissalinks.com/archives/286.
• Recently, Hindustan Times (see http://www.hindustantimes.com/Environment-Ministry-puts-on-hold-Vedanta-University-in-Orissa/Article1-542363.aspx) reported the following: "The Union Environment Ministry on Tuesday put on hold the controversial Rs.150 billion Vedanta University project in Orissa following complaints of alleged irregularities by its promoter Anil Agarwal Foundation. The direction to keep the project in abeyance has come within a month of the Ministry granting conditional environmental clearance to the Foundation which is building the university." Now stopping a mine or a factory or an airport for environmental reasons may make sense, but a university?? That too, just because some one complained. No investigation! Just people complained and he stopped the project, when the project was about to construct a medical college!!
• Jairam Ramesh and his ministry recently granted environmental permission to construct the Polavurum dam in Andhra Pradesh against the objections of the Orissa and Chhatisgrah government. See http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Environment-ministry-clears-Andhra-project/articleshow/6233874.cms . Times of India was surprised with this. It wrote: "Oddly, while the ministry had set up separate committees to investigate the settlement of rights under the Forest Rights Act in other high profile cases such as Vedanta and Posco which propose to displace far lesser people, in the Polavaram case the ministry has decided to accept the state government’s compliance report on face value.  The mega-project is expected to submerge 276 villages displacing upwards of two lakh people by some estimates. "   

In summary, while Jairam Ramesh deserves kudos for putting his foot down on environment laws and making sure everyone takes them seriously, people of Odisha need to be very careful of him as he seems to be against Odisha; he has stopped projects clearly beneficial to Odisha (namely, Vedanta University) by using his environment stick, and at the same time has allowed projects clearly harmful to Odisha  (namely, the polavurum dam) even after the Odisha government and Odisha chief minister have vehemently objected to it. This does not at all gel with the actions they took against Vedanta University. There the project was ordered to stop because some people complained. Here the project was given green signal despite the state of Odisha and its chief minister complaining and that too reportedly without any enquiry. 

Following are excerpted from Pioneer reports at here and here.

• Vedanta Aluminum would enhance its refinery, smelter and power plant capacity with a total investment of `37,440 crore. Vedanta Aluminium company would enhance its production capacity Langigarh unit to six million tonne from existing one million tonne. The company would also enhance its production capacity of Jharsuguda aluminium unit to 1.6 million tonne from existing 0.25 million tonne per annum. Similarly, the company would also increase power generation capacity of its CPP (captive power project) to 1,350 mega watt from existing 675 MW at Jharsuguda.
  
• NSL Nagapatnam’s `8,900 crore investment plans in the State. The company would set up a 1320 MW power plant in Angul district at a cost of `6,600 crore, a 5,000-tonne sugar refinery at Paradip with an investment of `800 crore and a textile and spindle mill with 3 lakh spindles at a cost of `1,500 crore at Rayagada.
• ACC Cement’s `1,850 crore three MTPA cement project along with a 50 MW CPP in Malkangiri district 
• Bhusan Steel’s `3,000-crore steel park at Meramundali.
• SPI Ports to set up a 1,320 MW (2 x 660 MW) power plant at Mahakalpada in Kendrapara district at an investment of Rs 6,600 crore.
• KU Pvt Ltd would invest Rs 7,260 crore to set up a power project with 1320 MW power generating capacity at Thakurpur in Sonepur district.
• Rohit Ferro Alloys would spend Rs 2500 crore for setting up a 67.5 MW captive power plant at its 0.6 MTPA stainless steel project at Kalinganagar in Jajpur district.
• Aditya Aluminum to enhance the capacity of its Rayagada alumina refinery to 1.5 MTPA from the present 1 MTPA, and Jharsuguda smelter from 0.26 MTPA to 0.36 MTPA with an total investment of Rs 11,000 crore,
• Jindal India is proposing to enhance the capacity of its power plant from 1,200 MW to 1,800 MW with a total investment of Rs8, 000 crore.
• Ind-Bharat is proposing to expand its power project capacity from 700 MW to 1320 MW by adding a 660 MW unit with a total cost of Rs 3300 crore.
• Kalinga Energy, which is now shifting its site from Babuchaki in Sambalpur to Sodamal in Jharsuguda district has also got green signal to enhance the capacity of its power project from 1000 MW to 1320 MW with a total cost of Rs 6500 crore.

Update: The Odisha CM is making the case that five more districts be included in the list of naxal-hit districts that should be targeted for infrastructure development schemes. Those are: Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Sundergarh, Keonjhar and Kandhamal.

Following is the content of an email that summarizes a point that I have tried to make over the last couple of years. It seems the planning commission has started thinking along the same lines.

The nations attention at this time seems to be focused on the Maoist issue. While the law and order steps are probably necessary, this is a good time to recall the lessons that India learned (and that seems to have worked) in J& K and North East.

What is that lesson?

The lesson is regarding what worked in the North East and J & K is not just policing but the  investment of vast amount of funds towards development programs there.

A similar approach at the same level of funding needs to be taken for the areas that are affected by the Maoist problem.

What is the level of funding for North east and J & K?

Following is extracted from the attached document from the Ministry of Home GOI.
(I can not locate it in their web page now, but I have uploaded the copy I had downloaded from their site to the site http://www.orissalinks.com/bigfiles/internal%20security.pdf )

• PM’s reconstruction plan for J&K announced in Nov 2004  is for Rs. 24,000 crores.
• 1,83,018 crores is allocated for economic development in the North east.

In contrast,  for the Maoist affected areas  in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal; only Rs. 3007.50 crores were spend via Backward Districts Initiative and Rs. 1930.52 crores via Backwards Region Grant Fund.

What is the impact?

J & K and North east vs Maoist affected areas in terms of violence:

• Militancy in J & K resulted in the killing of 1,883 civilians and 789 security forces personnel.
• The militancy-related fatalities in the north-east were 1,909 civilians and 361 security forces personnel."

In contrast 2,281 civilians and 821 security forces personnel were killed between 2004 and 2008 (up to August 31) due to Maoist activity.

Thus there were more civilians and security forces killed between 2004-2008 due to Maoist activity than each in J& K and North east.

I think India needs to pay as much attention (in terms of money and development programs) to the Maoist affected areas as it is paying to J&K and North East.

Moreover, the Maoist affected areas are much poorer, much less literate, and overall more backward in all parameters than J&K and the Northeast. While J&K and Northeast are in the physical frontier of India, the Maoist affected areas are the third frontier. One must note that many countries have had more lives lost in fighting or other uphevels in their interior than in fighting an extrenal enemy. Following are some examples:

In US, 625 thousand people died during the civil war which is more than the number that died in World war 1 and 2 put together. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_casualties_of_war )
In Russia/Soviet Union, the number of deaths estimated are as high as 20 million deaths during Stalin’s regime, 9 million during civil war 1917-1922, and 10 million during the second world war.    (See http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm )
• In China, the number of deaths is estomated at 2.5 million during their civil war (1945-1949), 40 million during Mao’s regime, and 10.45 million in the Second world war. (See http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm )

Thus, just because the Maoist affected areas are in the interior, they should not get less development related attention than J&K and Northeast. As the above numbers show, trouble in the interior can be actually worse than trouble in the physical frontier.

In other words, it would be prudent for GOI to take the Maoist affected areas of India as seriously as J&K and Northeast, and perhaps even more seriously, as they are more backward than J&K and Northeast and put as much or more development resources in those areas.

Currently train lines, roads, airports (in general connectivity) to J&K and Northeast are being fast-tracked and sometimes labeled as National projects. A similar approach to connectivity (rail, roads, etc.) and other development in the Maoist affected areas of India (that includes KBK, Kandhamala, Sudnergarh, Mayurbhanj etc. of Orissa) must be taken urgently. 

Dear Sirs: I would like you to use the above numbers, recall the lessons learned from J & K and North East and take a balanced approach to the maoist problem; Law and order aspects combined with development programs at the same scale as in J & K and Northeast.

There is now an indication that the planning commission has started thinking along the same lines.Following is an excerpt from a report in Indian Express. 

The Plan panel would be ready with the final draft of the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for development

of the 35 naxal-hit districts spread over nine states in a month’s time.

“The Commission should be ready with the final draft of IAP in a month as consultations with organisations like civil societies are still on,” Member Planning Commission Mihir Shah told reporters after a meeting on IAP with non-government organisation here.

… Shah said funding under the IAP would be done for three years. There are suggestions from civil societies that in the naxal hit districts, Panchayti Raj institutions like Gram Sabha and Panchayat should be used for inclusive development.

… Last week, Ahluwalia had indicated that the panel is working on Rs 13,742 crore financial package for these 35 districts.

He had also disclosed that the proposal came from the Cabinet Committee on Security and would be for a three-year period for infrastructure development.

… The commission is also looking at the possibility of implementing the PESA (Panchayats Extension to Schedule Areas) Act, 1996, to give tribals the right to use minor forest produce.

Parts of as many as nine states — Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal

— are in the grip of Naxalism.

Among these 35 districts five are in Odisha. They are: Malkangiri, Rayagada, Gajapati, Sambalpur and Deogarh. The Orissa government is pushing to include Koraput in that list.

Although this is a good start, I think much more needs to be done and to the larger area that I refer to as the third frontier. Perhaps a larger plan can be made for the 12th plan starting 2012. The approach to the 12th five year plan could be a good starting point to submit our feedback. I think the package of Rs 13,742 crores for 35 districts is a good start but not enough. The amount has to be much higher and the number of districts need to be more. In Odisha (see forest map) Kandhamala (51.51% ST), Mayurbhanj (57.87 ST), and Nabarangpur (55.27% ST)  (Keonjhar and Sundergarh also have high ST percent, but they are being developed for other reasons anyway) need to be included and the infrastructure to be fast-tracked must also include Railway lines such as Khurda-Balangir line and the Chakulia-Buaramara line.

Earlier we discussed the coastal belt and the western industrial corridor. However, there is a big part of Odisha outside of these two areas. Although, that area was long neglected except small industrial pockets in Rayagada and Koraput area, things have started happening in the overall area. Following is a map of that.

In the map above Berhampur and Balangir are reference points for the southern tip of the coastal belt and western industrial area respectively. Coming back to the outposts the current industrial areas are:

• Koraput-Jeypore Sunabeda and
• Rayagada-Therubali

They are 150 kms apart. Besides industries, both areas have several engineering colleges and a central university (possibly with a medical college) is coming up near Koraput.

North of Rayagada-Therubali is the Lanjigarh operations of Vedanta and its emerging township. How fast this area develops will depend on how quick there is an understanding between the loacls and the Vedanta people.

Further north is the Bhawanipatna-Kesinga-Titlagarh area. Titlagarh is a railway junction. A train line connecting Bhawanipatna and Junagarh to Lanjigarh rd of the Raygada-Titlagarh line should have passenger traffic in a couple of years. Recently, Bhawaniptna is getting some attention from the state government in terms of HRD institutions. A government engineering college and a government agricultural college has started here and the higher education task force has recommended a state university here. A private medical college is under construction. (However, its progress is slow.) I hope the government takes over the medical college infrastructure that has been built and makes it a government medical college and a location in this area is chosen for the announced Railway wagon factory.  However, for the area to further develop and develop rapidly, the locals need to actively chip in. They need to learn how locals in the Koraput area, Rayagada area, Gunupur and Parlakhemundi have created  and/or facilitated private HRD infrastructure. (For example, each of them have private engineering colleges.) In addition they should form a win-win partnership with Vedanta. If people don’t help themselves and don’t stop actively opposing private development instead of facilitating it, there is only so much the governments can do.

On the eastern side Parlakhemundi and Gunupur are slowly emerging as educational mini-hubs. The JITM and CRESM in Parlakhemundi are together becoming a private university and Gunupur has the biggest (in terms of student intake) engineering college (private or government) of the state. The railway line connecting Gunupur and Parlakhemundi to the Howrah-Chennai line at Naupada is about to start passenger service.

The lone central outpust is Phulbani. At present it has nothing much except some negative name recognition. The government needs to pay attention to this starting with pushing for the early establishment of a branch of the Tribal University here.

However, there are still several areas which are being left out. This includes the area south of Koraput (namely the Malkangiri district) and the districts of Nabarangpur and Nuapada. Unless development spreads there, they will be the new KBK of Odisha.

Following is excerpted from a report in Financial Express by Dilip Bisoi.

• five units entailing a total investment of Rs 4,162 crore.
• The state promises 2.224 billion tonne of limestone deposits. Moreover, Orissa is going to generate huge quantity of blast furnace slag and fly ash as a large number of steel units and coal-fired power plants are coming up in the state.
• Madras Cements, which is known for its popular Ramco brand, is proposing to set up two cement projects in the district of Sundergarh and Malkangiri of the state. While it is planning a 2 million tonne per annum (MTPA) plant along with a 40 mw captive power station at a cost of Rs 750 crore in Sundergarh, in Malkangiri it is going to set up a 2 MTPA unit along with a 35 mw power station at a cost of Rs 700 crore.
• Madras Cements is also going to invest Rs 35 crore to set up a cement fibre sheet plant in Sundergarh district.
• Shree Cement, which is known for its Bangur brand, is planning to set up a 3 MTPA unit and a 50 mw power plant at a cost of Rs 683 crore in Malkangiri district.
• ACC Cement, which acquired the Bargarh Cement Plant of the Orissa government in 2004, intends to set up a 3 MTPA cement plant and a 50 mw power plant at a cost of Rs 1,850 crore in Malkangiri.
• The Kolkata-based Emami Group is proposing to invest Rs 179 crore to set up a 0.6 MTPA cement grinding facility at Somnathpur in Balasore district. The group has a newsprint manufacturing unit at Balgopalpur in Balasore district.
• Earlier, the government signed three MoUs in the cement sector. Grasim Cement of the Birla Group signed an MoU in 2006 to set up a 0.90 MTPA cement plant in Sundergarh district at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore, while ASCO Cement is putting up a 0.50 MTPA unit at a cost of Rs 132 crore at Rajgangpur in Jharsuguda district.
• OCL India, which already has a ement unit in the state, is setting up another unit in Sundergarh district with an investment of Rs 850 crore.
• Companies like Shiva Cement, Chariot Cement, Sita Cement already have cement manufacturing facilities in the state.

Following is an excerpt from a report in sify.com.

The State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) today cleared nine new investment proposals worth Rs 4920.26 crore. Out of these, five are in the cement sector, two aluminium conductor units, a maize processing unit and a petroleum coke plant.

Out of the five new cement projects, two are of Madras Cement which will set up its units at Sundergarh and Malkangiri.

The company’s Sundargarh plant will have two million tonne per annum (mtpa) cement capacity along with 40 MW of captive power generation facility. The project is estimated to cost Rs 750 crore. Madras Cement, known for its Ramko brand of cement, will also have a cement fibre sheet plant at the same location at an investment of Rs 35 crore.

The company’s second cement unit in the state, also with a capacity of two mtpa, will come up at Malkanagiri. It will have a 36 MW Captive Power Plant and the combined cost of the project is pegged at Rs 700 crore.

Apart from Madras Cement, Ajmer-based Shree Cement, known for its Bangur brand of cement, has proposed to set up a three mtpa cement unit and a 36 MW CPP, also at Malkangiri, at an investment of Rs 683 crore.

ACC Cement intends to set up a three mtpa cement unit and a 50 MW CPP at Malkangiri, involving an investment of Rs 1850 crore.

Similarly, Emami Group which has a newsprint making plant at Balgopalpur in Balasore district will invest Rs 179 crore at Somnathpur in the same district for setting up a 0.6 mtpa cement grinding unit.

… Among the other investment proposals cleared by SLSWCA is the Seashore Group’s plan to set up a maize processing unit at Papdahandi block in Nabarangpur district at a cost of Rs 160 crore. The facility will come up on 123 acres of land and will require two lakh litres of water per day. The project will create 96 direct jobs besides creating indirect employment opportunity for around 6000 people.

Sterlite Technologies Ltd, a Vedanta Group firm, will invest Rs 51.26 crore on establishing an aluminium conductor plant as well as an aluminium alloy rod unit at Brundamal near Jharsuguda. This plant will be a downstream unit of the company’s existing aluminium smelter at Jharsuguda.

Kalinga Calciners has proposed to set up petroleum coke plant near Paradeep at a cost of Rs 80 crore. The plant will have an overall capacity of 2,20,000 tonnes per annum which will be achieved in two phases.

The SLSWCA also cleared the proposal of Hindustan Vidyut Products Ltd which has evinced interest in setting up an aluminium conductor plant at Jharsuguda, entailing an investment of Rs 389 crore. This project which will come up on 75 acres of land will create direct employment for 153 people and creating indirect jobs for around 400 others.

Its good to see that some of the above units are proposed for remote backward districts such as Malkangiri and Nabarangpur.

1. Economic Times on 3 more terminal markets in Odisha:

Orissa government will provide four terminal market yards to enable the farmers to sell their produce at market prices…. One of the terminal has already been constructed at Sambalpur with an investment

of Rs 86 crore and three others are coming up at Cuttack, Berhampur and Rourkela,…

2. Business Standrad on MOU with five IPPs for 4800 MW power:

The cumulative capacity of these projects would be 4800 Mw and the total investment is envisaged to be Rs 23203.52 crore.

With this, the total power generation projected in the state would increase to 31100 Mw from 26300 Mw earlier.The Orissa government has already inked MoUs with 21 IPPs with an aggregate generation capacity of 26,300 Mw earlier.

… Five companies who signed the MoU included BGR Energy System, JR Powergen Private Ltd, Adhunik Power and Natural Resources Ltd, Maa Durga Thermal Power Company Ltd and Vijaya Ferro and Power Private Ltd.

JR Powergen Private Ltd would set up a 1980 Mw thermal power plant at Kishorenagar near Angul at an investment of Rs 7988 crore. BGR Energy Systems Ltd also plans to set up a 1320 Mw power plant at Bhapur in Nayagarh district at an investment of Rs 6287 crore.

Similarly, Adhunik Power and Natural Resources Ltd would set up a 1320 Mw power plant at Birmaharajpur in Sonepur district entailing an investment of Rs 8079.74 crore. All these proposals were cleared by the High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) chaired by the chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

On the other hand, Maa Durga Thermal Power would set up a 60 Mw ((2x30Mw) power plant at Tangi in Cuttack district, involving an investment of Rs 296.95 crore. Besides, Vijaya Ferro and Power Private Ltd, planning to set up a 120 Mw power plant (IPP) at an investment of Rs 550 crore at Kesinga (Turla Khamar) in Kalahandi district.

The total land requirement for these projects have been assessed at 4360 acres and about 22,325 direct and indirect employment opportunities are expected to be created when these projects would be fully commissioned. Three projects namely BGR Energy System, JR Powergen Private Ltd, Adhunik Power and Natural Resources Ltd would source water from the Mahanadi river system, Maa Durga Thermal Power would draw water from Birupa river.Vijaya Ferro and Power plans to source water from Tel river.

3. Hindu on preliminary bids for UMPP at Bedabahal:

the government was likely to invite preliminary bids for the 4,000-MW Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) at Bedabahal in Orissa by April 30.

The request for qualification (RSQ) for the project may be issued by April 30.

This Bedabahal project would be the sixth UMPP project. The government has already awarded four UMPPs, of which three — Sasan in Madhya Pradesh, Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Tilaiya in Jharkhand — have been bagged by Reliance Power.

4. Sify on 595 crores for waterbody upgrade:

As many as 1817 water bodies, mostly the minor irrigation projects (MIPs) in 20 districts of Orissa, would be revitalized under the Centrally sponsored scheme of Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies.

These water bodies would be revitalized within a period of three years at an estimated cost of Rs 595.14 crore.

The funding for these projects would be shared between the Government of India and the Orissa government in the ratio of 90:10 for the Maoist infested, drought prone and backward districts of Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput (KBK).

For the other districts, the share between the Centre and the state government will be 25 per cent and 75 per cent respectively.

While the design ayacut of all 1817 projects was 2, 48,545.86 hectares, the irrigation potential of an additional 89,110.02 hectares of land would be revived through these projects, sources said.

Most of these projects under the RRR scheme are being taken up in south Orissa’s Ganjam district. About 800 projects under the scheme are to be taken up in the district at a cost of Rs 250.87 crore.

… Apart from Ganjam and KBK, the other districts where the scheme will be implemented are Bargarh, Bolangir, Gajapati, Jajpur, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Mayurbhanaj, Nabarangapur, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Balasore, Malkanagiri, Subarnapur, Deogarh and Dhenkanal.

The pilot project for this scheme was implemented for 137 projects in Ganjam and Gajapati districts at a cost of Rs 18.84 crore during 2005-06 to 2008-09.

5. Hindu on Japan giving 150 crores for an irrigation project:

Japan will also give … over Rs 150 crore for Rengali irrigation project in Orissa.

6. Hospitalitbizindia on a mega food park at Malipada, Khurda:

Government of India is likely to set up a mega food park and a marine food park at Malipara near Khurda in Orissa with an area of 282 acres. This information was given by Subodh Kant Sahai, Union Minister for Food Processing while responding to a demand raised by Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Orissa at the Orissa Investors meet 2010.

Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.

The State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) headed by the chief secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy today cleared five projects worth Rs 2807.7 crore.

…out of the 12 proposals considered by SLSWCA, the proposal of Bhubneswar Power Private Ltd for setting up of a 2X67.5 Mw CPP was deferred. The energy department has been asked to consider the proposal from the policy point of view.

Two major investment proposals by Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) and Hindalco Industries were partially approved in today’s meeting due to non-availability of bauxite and pending the environmental carrying capacity study by the Orissa State Pollution Control Board.

VAL had proposed to expand the capacity of its refinery at Lanjigarh from one million tonne per annum (MTPA) to 6 MTPA and the smelter plant capacity from 0.25 MTPA to 1.6 MTPA. Besides, the capacity of the CPP was proposed to be raised from 674 Mw to 1350 Mw with a combined investment of Rs 37,440 crore.

The company had signed MoU with the Orissa government for the present capacity at an investment of Rs 12,400 crore. However, SLSWCA only recommended for a smelter capacity of 0.5 MTPA as the company had already achieved this level. It also approved the capacity expansion of the CPP to 1350 Mw as sought by the company. The additional smelting capacity will be considered only after ascertaining the availability of bauxite and receipt of the OSPCB study on environment. Similarly, Hindalco Industries Ltd (Aditya Aluminium) had proposed to expand its alumina refinery capacity to 1.5 MTPA from 1 MTPA at present.

Along with this, the company also sought expansion of its smelting capacity to 0.72 MTPA from 0.26 MTPA and increase in the CPP capacity to 1650Mw from 650 Mw.

SLSWCA has decided to recommend a marginal increase in the smelting capacity from 0.26 MTPA to 0.36 MTPA and CPP capacity from 650 Mw to 950 Mw to the HLCA.

It also put conditional approval to the proposal of the Tata Sponge Iron Ltd. to set up a 1.5 MTPA steel making capacity along with a 52 Mw CPP at an investment of Rs 3101 crore. While the existing sponge capacity of the company is 0.39 MTPA, it had sought to expand its capacity by 0.45 MTPA to 0.84 MTPA.

Similarly, the company proposed to set up one MTPA blast furnace and 1.6 MTPA pellet plant in a separate location in Keonjhar district. It will have to increase the steel making capacity first and after that the increase in the sponge making capacity will be allowed.

The other projects which were approved include 4 MTPA iron ore beneficiation plant at an investment of Rs 360.85 crore to be set up by Kolkata based Rashmi Metaliks at Nayagarh in Keonjhar district.

Similarly, the Rs 624.7 crore investment proposal of Rungta mines, Shyam Steel Industries proposal for setting up 2 MTPA iron ore pelletisation plant were cleared by the SLSWCA. Besides, the Toshali Cement’s proposal to expand its capacity to 2100 tonne per day from 600 tonne per day along with 3.96 lakh tonne per annum grinding unit at Choudwar was also approved.

The proposal of Orissa Thermal Power Corporation, a joint venture between Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) and Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) to set up 2000 MW power plant at Rengali at an investment of Rs 8250 crore also received the nod of the committee.

Jindal India Thermal Power’s proposal to increase the capacity from 1200 Mw to 1800 mw and Lanco Bhawan Power’s proposal to increase its capacity to 2640 Mw from 1230 Mw were approved for recommendation to the HLCA on the basis of strong recommendation of the energy department.

In another significant decision, SLSWCA decided not to allow any more cement plant in the state except Malkangiri district as the state does not have sufficient amount of limestone.

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 FAX: PMO at 23016857 , 23015603 (Delhi STD code is 11), CMO at 674 2590 833 (home) 674 2535 100 (office) and Planning Commission at 23096699

To:

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister of India

Cc: Mr. Naveen Patniak, Chief Minister of Orissa

Cc: Shri Muralidhar Chandrakant Bhandare, Governor of Orissa

 
Subject: Solving the greater Kandhamala problem – going after the root cause in a war footing

Dear Dr. Singh: 

While the civil society in Orissa, the nation and the world is disturbed by the  communal violence in Kandhamala, I would urge you to take steps to eradicate the root cause of the violence in Kandhamala and the nearby tribal, hilly, forested, awfully connected, poor and backward districts of Orissa (and its neighboring states). In this regard, please note that the violence did not spread to the major towns and cities of Orissa (such as Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Berhampur, Balasore etc.)  that are well connected (by Rail and roads), decently developed and have a civil society. 

While the violence involving the murder of Swami Laxmanananda on August 23^rd 2008 and the subsequent communal violence that has taken about 40 lives is most deplorable and is in the forefront of the media, please also recall the following events that also took place within the last year in these areas:

1. February 15 2008:  400 to 500 armed Naxals raided the Nayagarh armory and killed 15 people including 13 policemen.
2. June 29 2008: 30 elite anti-insurgency policemen were killed by Maoists near Malkangiri.
3. July 16 2008:  21 Orissa policemen were killed in a land mine explosion and firing by the ultras in Malkangiri.
4. Dec 27 2007: Eleven churches were ransacked and torched in several areas of Kandhamal district.

Please note that these events happened in places in Orissa (Nayagarh, Malkangiri and Kandhamal) that are badly connected, near or within forests, have a large tribal population, and are among the most backward districts of India. The following map shows these districts are surrounded by large tracts of dense and open forested areas, and partly explains why the naxalites and Maoists are able to make them their base and why it has been difficult to deploy adequate police there in a timely manner.

Sir: As an economist and a world leader you must know that lack of connectivity, lack of development, lack of a civil society, entrenched forest and mountainous areas together with a different population base is a recipe for the sprouting of troubled areas. This is true all across the world; from J& K and North eastern areas of India to caucuses in Asia. While one cannot and should not get rid of the mountains or the people, the problem can be solved by making the areas well connected and bringing development. The Indian government is doing that in J & K and in the northeast; but has mostly forgotten about the similar areas in Orissa, Chhatisgrah, and Andhra Pradesh, which are the favorite bases of the Naxals and Maoists.

Sir: We would like you to pay the same attention to these areas in terms of connectivity, development, and creation of civil societies, as you do to the North east and J & K. In particular we would request that following be done in a war footing during the 11^th plan.

(i)                  The Vijaywada-Ranchi highway that passes through many of these areas be completed.

(ii)                Broadband connectivity be brought to these districts with adequate access locations.

(iii)                Two Railway lines, parts of which have already been sanctioned by the Railways but are progressing slowly, are completed and made operational. Those lines are:

a.       Khurda Rd – Balangir (passes through Nayagarh and Boudh) – This line was sanctioned in 1994-95 is progressing very slowly.

b.      Bhadrachalam Rd (Andhra Pradesh) – Malkangiri – Jeypore – Nabarangpur – Junagarh – Lanjigarh Rd – passing through Kandhamala – Boudh – Angul – Talcher – Bimlagarh: Several segments of these lines are approved but progressing slowly. Those segments are Junagarh – Lanjigarh Rd and Talcher – Bimlagarh. Angul – Talcher is operational.

(iv)              With the above lines operational, development should be brought into Kandhamal, Boudh, Gajapati, and KBK districts (including Kalahandi and Malkangiri) through 1-2 Rail factories and public sector units that can use the steel and aluminum and power produced in abundance in Orissa.

(v)                Orissa govt. should be encouraged and aided to establish a university in Kandhamala and another in Kalahandi.

(vi)              A branch of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University be established in one of these districts.

(vii)             Orissa govt. should be encouraged and aided to establish a government medical college and nursing college in Kandhamala or Boudha district.

Sir:  In regards to the cost of establishing the Railway lines, please note that as per the calculation in  http://kbkrail.orissalinks.com/ Indian Railways is scheduled to make a profit of 2679.72 crores/year from its operations in Orissa. If 1500 crores of this money (the rest may go to Indian Railway’s current plans for Orissa) is put into Orissa, in just 2-3 years the above mentioned lines could be completed.

Sir: We sincerely hope that you will translate the great concern you have shown towards the recent violent events to the above mentioned action items that address the key issues of lack of connectivity and development in these areas and thus provide a long term and real solution.

Sincerely

Appendix:

1. Estimated profit Indian Railways will make from Orissa in 2008-09:

2.  One of the earlier planning commissions has noted in http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/stateplan/sdr_orissa/sdr_orich2.doc

“Railways have always played an important role in economic development and rapid social transformation in all parts of the globe. It is one of the key economic infrastructures. However, it is most unfortunate that in a poor and backward state like Orissa, development of rail networks has received much less attention of the Central Government in the post-independence period. There are as many as seven districts like Boudh, Kandhamal, Deogarh, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur out of the 30 districts of the state, which do not have any railway line passing through them. In the year 1998-99, the density of railway route length per 1000 sq. km of area in Orissa was only 15.03 km as against 42.66 km in West Bengal and 19.11 km. at all-India level”.

3. The tribal population percentage of the KBK districts are as follows:  Malkangiri  58.36% ST  (+19.96% SC),  Rayagada 56.04% ST  (+14.28% SC),  Nabarangpur 55.27% ST (+15.09% SC), Koraput 50.67% ST (+13.41% SC), Nuapada 35.95%  ST(+13.09% SC), Kalahandi 28.88% ST (+17.01% SC), Sonepur 22.11% ST (+9.5% SC), Balangir 22.06% ST (+15.39% SC). Two adjacent districts also have high tribal population. They are Kandhamala 51.51% ST (+18.21% SC) and Gajapati 47.88%  ST(+8.77% SC). 

4. The literacy rates in the KBK districts are abysmally low. Malkangiri 31.26%, Nabarangpur 34.26%, Rayagada 35.61%, Koraput 36.2%, Nuapada 42.29%, Kalahandi 46.2%, Balangir 54.93%, Sonepur 64.07%. Two adjacent districts also have low literacy: Gajapati 41.73% and Kandhamala 52.95%. The state average is 63.1%.

5. Population below the poverty line in southern Orissa (of which KBK is a part) is reported to be 89.17% of the people according to the 1999-2000 NSS data and 72% of the families according to the 1997 census.

The following list is from www.orissatourism.gov.in/new/Identified_Tourist_Centre_of_Orissa_261207.pdf.

Some land acquisition numbers:

• Total: 61,769.527 acres
• Coastal: 15,536.153 acres
  • Ganjam: 3229.815 acres (top)
  • Baleswar: 347.643 acres (bottom)
• Naupada: 11,816.27 acres since 2000 (top)
• Kalahandi: 6,163.77 acres (2nd)
• Mayurbhanj: 6113.78 acres (3rd)
• Malkangiri: 3.65 acres (bottom)
• IDCO indsutrial land acquistion in last 3 years for 58 industries
  • 4778 acres govt. land
  • 6532 acres private land

Following is a from a news item in tathya.in.

Tin project of the Koustuv Mining and Smelting Company (KMS) also received the nod of the Authority. 

KMS will set up tin smelting plant at Khurda and refinery at Malkangiri with an investment of Rs.95.61 crore. 

The company holds mining lease for 1116.830 hectares in tin ore rich area of Malkangiri.

Following is from odisha.in.

According to official sources, the SLSWCC has also cleared six other industrial project proposal, which include- Dev Alloys at, Jajpur, Ravi Metalik , Sambalpur, Kaustuv Mining  and  Smelter at Malkangir, Orissa Mining and Mineral Development Pvt Ltd, at Dhenkanal, S.L.Mining, Joda and ESSAR’s expansion proposal for its proposed Paradeep Steel project.

This has been reported in Tathya.in, Kalinga Times, and Odisha.in so far. Odisha. in has the two letters.

• Letter to the PM
• Letter to the CM

We appeal to the readers with interest in Orissa to contact their local organization (Outside Orissa, the local Orissa/Oriya/Kalinga organization) and through them send a similar letter to the PM and CM at the earliest. The planning commission has been asked by the PM on September 14th to make the location decisions in two months. So time is running out on this.

The following ad in Samaja gives highlights of two recently launched schemes in agriculture:

• National Food Security Mission (NFSM)
  • The 15 districts in Orissa covered under the NFSM-Rice scheme (as given in page 40 of the above document) are Angul, Balangir, Boudha, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Malkangiri, Nawapara, Nawarangpur, Nayagarh, Phulbani, and Sundargarh.
  • The 10 districts in Orissa covered under the NFSM-Pulse scheme (as given in page 43 of the above document) are Balangir, Baragarh, Cuttack, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Khurda, Nayagarh, Puri, Rayagada.
• Rashtriya Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY)