Stories of hunger and starvation deaths that once emanated from Odisha’s Kalahandi with alarming frequency are now a thing of past. The tribal-dominated district, which is part of the much-maligned KBK belt, is today a model of prosperity that the entire state can be proud of.
On January 14, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik waxed eloquent about the transformation of Kalahandi as he addressed his first public meeting in the district since the outbreak of the corona pandemic and inaugurated a slew of projects there, including the Rs 986 crore Indravati lift irrigation project that will facilitate irrigation in 25,275 hectares of land across three blocks.
As the Chief Minister rightly pointed out, Kalahandi was no more the infamous laboratory to study poverty; it has instead turned into a region of prosperity with its farmers producing some of the best paddy in the state. The Indravati project is set to further boost agriculture in the district which has become an exemplar for the rest of Odisha.
The amazing transformation of Kalahandi is one of the biggest success stories of the Naveen Patnaik government. It has set a new benchmark in the field of development. Once counted among the most backward districts of the state, Kalahandi has made big strides not only in the field of agriculture but also industry. The district is home to the state’s largest alumina refinery in the private sector.
Kalahandi has become a byname for development, with its growth reflective of the positive changes that have swept the entire Western Odisha region over the past 20 years of Patnaik’s rule. Until the time that he took over the reins of the state, this belt was seen as a glaring victim of lopsided development in Odisha and erstwhile rulers in Bhubaneswar were directly blamed for this. This also led to growing bitterness between the people of western and coastal Odisha.
The Western Odisha Development Council (WODC), which was set up to redress the developmental balance by accelerating the economic growth of this region, had failed to produce desirable results in its initial years. Things started changing for the better only after Patnaik took charge as the Chief Minister of the state in 2000. New projects were planned and executed and people of the region started reaping the fruits of development for the first time.
Today’s Western Odisha boasts not only huge industrial projects and a thriving agriculture sector, but also excellent communication and health infrastructure. It is home to modern hospitals, medical colleges and also Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Sambalpur.
The Chief Minister, who had assured the people of the region of all-round development while campaigning for his party candidates in the last elections, has kept his word. The projects that he inaugurated in Kalahandi, particularly the Indravati mega lift irrigation project, prove that he remains committed to turning the entirety of Western Odisha into a model of growth for others to follow.
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