The poor utilization of funds meant for rural development continues unabated in Orissa, especially in the backward districts of the state.
The pointer to this fact is the gross under-utilization of the funds under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA) in Kalahandi, one of the poorest districts in the state and the country.
Unimpressed by the progress made under the well-known KBK assistance plan, where over Rs 1,600 crore has been spent over the last decade, a concerned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the Planning Commission to immediately carry out a fresh time-bound re-evaluation of the programme with special focus on the state of poverty and hunger.
BHAWANIPATNA: A 15-metre-long breach in the left main canal of Indravati project on April 28 damaged standing paddy crops in about 100 acres of land at Kasibahal village.
Besides, crops were damaged due to sand cast in some places and in the down stream of the canal, irrigation was affected.
BHAWANIPATNA: Many areas of Kalahandi are under the grip of water crisis. Long dry spell and erratic rainfall in the last monsoon have resulted in depletion of groundwater.
The river beds of Udanti, Ret and Sandool had already dried up and in the absence of alternative drinking water sources, villagers are digging up
Vedanta wants flat-top mountain massif, but locals say it is the abode of their god
KALAHANDI has always captured the national imagination, but never for the right reasons. Recurring poverty deaths and reports about entire communities surviving on mango kernels defined this predominantly tribal district in southern Orissa for decades.
The Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) here, in association with the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai, and other organisations, have launched an initiative to end chronic hunger in the Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) regions of Orissa by 2015.
This report submitted to MoEF on March 12, 2010 details impact of bauxite mining in Lanjigarh on tribals in the region. Accuses Vedanta Alumina for violating the forest rights act & starting work without obtaining necessary clearances.
