Kalahandi
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Kalahandi is a district of Orissa, India. Kalahandi District occupies the southwestern portion of Orissa, bordered to the north by the Districts of Balangir and Nawapara, to the south by the District of Rayagada, to the west by the Districts of Nawarangpur and Raipur (Chhatisgarh) and to the east by the Districts of Rayagada and Boudh. It has an area of 8,364.89 square kilometers and ranks 7th among the 30 districts of Orissa. The District Headquarters is at Bhawanipatna Town which stands almost to the eastern border.
The present District of Kalahandi was a former princely state. After Indian Independence, Kalahandi joined with the Union of India on January 1, 1948, and was subsequently merged with Orissa on November 1, 1949.
The former capital of the State of Kalahandi, Junagarh, located 26 kilometers from Bhawanipatna has a well-built fort and a number of Hindu temples with sculptural evidence of the rite of sati.
The District is primarily agricultural, with over half the district area covered with dense jungle forest. Industry is very limited, but bauxite and graphite deposits have been commercially exploited.
Kalahandi has been in the news since middle of 1980s when India Today reported sale of a child by its parents due to financial crisis. That article led then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to pay a visit to the district and the brought the district to the attention of the national stage for its acute poverty and famine. Subsequently similar reported cases of starvation deaths and sale of children have led to the announcment of a host of relief efforts and development projects. Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao announced the famous KBK project (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) in 1994. Nonetheless, Kalahandi has not been able to take off despite of hosts of programmes, largely because of lacuna at implementation stage. As the basic infrastructure is dismal state, the development progress is very slow.
But some development in the recent past has shown some sign of progress. The Indravati Water Project, second biggest in the state has changed the landscape of southren Kalahandi, leading to two-three crops in a year. Because of this, blocks like Bhawanipatna, Jayapatna, Dharamgarh are witnessing rapid agriculural growth. Starlite Industries, a major aluminium processor has made major investments in the Kalahandi-Koraput range. Once this project is completed, it could be a big catalyst for industrial development in the region.
Kalahandi also is an example of disparity /contrasts that exist in many part of developing/underdeveloped world. On the one side, this district is famous for famine and starvation deaths: this is the same district that boasts of among the highest number of rice mills in Orissa. The number of rice mills in the district was around 150 in the year 2004-05. More than 70% have been built in the five years after commissioning of the Indravati project. The rice mill business is so lucrative that businessman from adjoining districts and states have invested directly or indirectly. Most of the rice mills purchase paddy from the government alloted villages through panchayat and sell the rice to Food Corporation of India. As many rice mills are competing for paddy, the price paid the farmers has increased in the recent past.
Orissa government has also set up a private medical college with a tie up with one South India based organisation in Junagarh block of Kalahandi. This has the potential of changing the health infrastructure of the adjoining blocks in the locality.
Politically, the district does not have much importance in state or national politics. Mr Vikram Keshari Singdeo, sitting MP(BJP) and third time MP from the district has not yet received any Union Ministry or political post. Mr Bhaktacharan Das, MP during the Chandrasekhar regime (1990-91), was part of the union ministry in the Railway and Sports department. No other MPs in last two decades have made it to any important post of national or state level. Among the MLAs representing the district, two MLAs Mr Bhupinder Singh and Mr Jagannath Pattnaik have been among the senior leaders of Congress Party. Despite both of them being in an important ministry like Revenue and Tourism, they failed to make it to limelight.
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