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Essay on Orissa
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Geographical Feature of Orissa
- Essay on the Climate of Orissa
- Essay on the Administrative Setup in Orissa
- Essay on the Demography of Orissa
- Essay on the Workforce of Orissa
- Essay on Unemployment and Poverty in Orissa
- Essay on Agriculture in Orissa
- Essay on the Mineral Resources of Orissa
- Essay on the Industries Set Up in Orissa
- Essay on the Infrastructure of Orissa
Orissa is one of the Twenty-fifth states of India. Its geographical location is given by its extension from 810 – 27’E to 870-29’E Longitudes and 170-49’N to 220-34’N Latitudes on the eastern coast of India. It covers an area of about 155,707 square kilometres.
It is a maritime state with a coastal line of about 266 Miles along with the Bay of Bengal. It is bounded by Bay of Bengal in the east. Madhya Pradesh in West, Bihar in the North, West Bengal in North-east and Andhra Pradesh in the South.
Essay # 1. Geographical Feature of Orissa:
The State has two major physiographic divisions, i.e.; the coastal plains and the high lands and plateaus of Orissa. The State’s major rivers flowing towards the Bay of Bengal have formed the coastal plains. This region is the most developed part of the state due to its fertile and productive alluvial soil.
The highlands and plateaus of the state are having four conspicuous sub-regions. The sub-regions are the Eastern Ghats, which are abruptly and steeply in the east and slope gently to a dissected plateau in the west running north-east (Mayurbhanj district) to south west (Koraput district). The next region is the subdued plateaus, which are the part of Eastern Ghats.
This tract separates the eastern coastal plains from the rolling uplands of Western Orissa. The rolling uplands that are another region of the division are lower in elevation. These are situated as discontinuous tracts both in the northern and southern parts and are divided into a number of uplands forming lower order physiographic units due to continued action of rivers running over them.
Essay # 2. Climate of Orissa:
The climate of the state is more or less of extreme type. The month of May is the hottest month, where the maximum temperature is varying from 33.3°C to 47.3°C. The December month is the coldest month in the state, where the minimum temperature is varying from 11.6° C to 13.9°C.
The Sundergarh district experiences both the hottest and coldest temperature in the state. The mean relative humidity varies from the maximum of 82 per cent to minimum of 51 per cent. The average annual normal rainfall in the state is 1482 mm. This rainfall is received through the South-West monsoon from June to September.
Essay # 3. Administrative Setup in Orissa:
The state is divided into 30 districts from the administrative point of view. There are 58 Sub-divisions, 147 Tehsils, 314 Community Development Blocks, 5263 Gram panchayats having 46,989 Inhabited and 4068 Uni-habited villages. There are also, 124 towns, 424 police stations.
Essay # 4. Demography of Orissa:
The total population of the state was 316 lakhs according to 1991 Census. Among them 160 lakhs are male and 156 lakhs are female population. They comprise 50.6 per cent and 49.4 per cent as male and female population respectively. Besides, 274 lakhs i.e.; 86.7 per cent of the total population live in the rural areas whereas the rest 42 lakhs i.e.; 13.3 per cent live in urban areas of the state.
The total Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population was 51 lakhs and 70 lakhs respectively. This comprises of about 16.1 per cent and 22.2 per cent respectively of the total population. The density of population is 203 persons per square kilometer. This is distributed as 179 persons and 1665 persons per square kilometer in rural and urban areas of the State respectively.
The sex ratio in the state shows continuous decline in females to male population, which was 971 females per 1000 males in the state. The same was 981:1000 in 1981 census. The rate of literacy in the State was 49.1 per cent as against 52.1 per cent in all India.
Essay # 5. Workforce of Orissa:
The total workforce of the state was 119 lakhs according to 1991 census. Among them 104 lakhs treated as main workers and 15 lakhs as Marginal workers. They constitute about 87.4 per cent and 12.6 per cent respectively to the total workers in the state.
It is also observed that, there are 46 lakh cultivators, 30 lakh agricultural labourers, 3 lakh engaged in household industries and rest 25 lakh employed in other economic activities. They are 44.2 per cent, 28.8 per cent, 2.9 per cent and 24.1 per cent respectively to the total main workers in the state.
Rural and Urban Distribution of Workforce:
The participation rate of workers in the State for urban and rural areas was 29.7 per cent and 38.7 per cent respectively. The alternative source of livelihood is limited in the rural areas. Due to this, the pressure of population is considerably high on land. Nearly 63.8 per cent of the total working population is engaged directly or indirectly in agricultural sector.
The share of workers belonging to household industries and other than household industry sector stood at 23.6 per cent according to 1991 census. In the rural areas, the participation rate of women was 22.6 per cent, whereas, the same was only 8.1 per cent in the urban areas according to 1991 census.
Essay # 6. Unemployment and Poverty in Orissa:
It has estimated that the total backlog of unemployment at the end of Seventh Plan was 7.30 lakh. The annual addition of labour force being 2.70 lakh, the total addition of labour force during two annual plans, i.e.; 1990-91 and 1991-92 would be 5.40 lakhs and the estimated generation of employment was of the order of 5.68 lakh.
Hence, at the beginning of Eighth Plan the total backlog of unemployment was 7.02 lakh. Taking this into consideration. It was estimated that the total backlog of unemployment would be at 10.20 lakh in the year 1997-98.
Poverty:
The incidence of poverty in Orissa is the highest among major states of the country. According to the Report of the Expert Group of Planning Commission, about 48.6 per cent of the State’s population live below the poverty line. The rural poverty stood at 49.7 per cent and it is the highest among all the states as well as the national average of 37.3 per cent, according to 1993-94 estimation.
The incidence of rural poverty was about 67.3 per cent in 1973-74. It shows that, the incidence of rural poverty has declined to about 17.6 per cent over a period of twenty years. This clearly indicates that the rate of decline is less than one per cent per annum. If the rate of decline will continue at this rate then it will require another 50 years to alleviate the poverty in rural Orissa.
Essay # 7. Agriculture in Orissa:
Agriculture is the main stay of the State’s economy and sustenance of the life of the people. It provides employment opportunities to about 65 per cent of the total population and contributes nearly 36 per cent to the net State Domestic Product.
The contribution of agricultural sector to the industry and Trade and Commerce sector is also more. In the State like ours, most of the people engaged themselves in agro-based industries. Likewise, agricultural products are the main source of trade and commerce.
Land Resources:
Land is the basic and most important input of agriculture. This is declining gradually over the years due to its use for purposes other than agriculture. There are about 6 lakh small and marginal farmers and 30 lakh agricultural labourers in the State. Most of them are landless and asset less.
The lands of the state are mostly sub-divided, fragmented and scattered for which the holdings are utterly deficient and uneconomic. In the state the marginal and un-economic holdings account for about 78 per cent of the total holdings. This causes low agricultural productivity in the state. The occurrence of natural calamities at regular interval also has adverse effect on agriculture.
In Orissa about 21.63 lakh hectares of cultivated land are irrigated of the total, 9.72 lakh hectares were irrigated through major and medium irrigation projects, 3.96 lakh hectare and 2.87 lakh hectare of land were irrigated through minor flow and minor Lift irrigation projects respectively.
The remaining 5.08 lakh hectares of cultivated land were irrigated through other sources. The percentage of net area irrigated in relation to the cultivable area was 37.4 per cent. This is much less than that of developed states of the country.
Fertilizers:
The per hectare consumption of chemical fertilizer in Orissa is also very less compared to National average. The per hectare consumption of chemical fertilizer in Orissa was only 24.6 kg in 1996-97, whereas this stood at 75.7 kgs at national level.
Foodgrain Production:
In the Foodgrain Production, the percentage share of Orissa to the national total was only about 4.0 per cent. The State’s per-capita food grain production was 18.2 kg as against rational average of about 20.6 kg. This position has remained almost static over years. The cultivation and production of paddy continued to be higher, this is, more than 90 per cent of the total.
Live Stock:
According to the live-stock census of 1991 the total live-stock population of Orissa was stood at 230 lakh. There are 135.8 lakh cattle’s including 5.6 lakh-crossbred cattle. There are also 18.4 lakh sheep’s, 48.0 lakh goats and 5.9 lakh pigs. The per-capita daily availability of milk was only about 46 grams as against 183 grams at all India level.
Fishery:
The inland Fishery in the state includes Fresh water and brackish water resources in the area of 6.5 lakh hectares and 5.2 lakh hectares respectively. The total production of fish in the state was 258.0 thousand Million Tonnes. Of the total about 47.3 per cent of fish produced by Fresh water, 5.0 per cent in Brackish water and the remaining 47.7 per cent in Marine waters.
Forest:
The total area of about 56060 Sq. Kms is covered by forest. This accounted for about 33.4 per cent of the total geographical area of the state.
Power:
Orissa continues to be a power deficit state despite of considerable importance laid for the generation of electricity by Government. However, the rural electrification programme has been successfully implemented in the State. In Orissa about 70 per cent of villages have been electrified. Among them 54 per cent of Tribal villages and 93 per cent of Scheduled Caste villages have been electrified.
Essay # 8. Mineral Resources of Orissa:
Orissa has vast mineral resources and other raw materials. The State occupies an important position both in terms of mineral deposits and its production. It shares 18.4 per cent of the total mineral deposits and contributes to 8.7 per cent of the total production in the country. Orissa is rich in bauxite, chromite, coal, graphite, dolomite, iron ore, manganese, nickel and vanadium.
The mineral resource of the state has not exploited. This is due to lack of infrastructural facilities, low rate of investment and labour problems. According to 1991 census about 1 lakh persons engaged in mining and quarrying activities in the state. It can be stated here that, the proper exploitation of mineral resources and the development of industries based on them would help to bring about a total change of industrial map of the State.
Essay # 9. Industries Set Up in Orissa:
Orissa has a long and illustrious tradition of producing through its artisans exquisitely beautiful arts and crafts, which would be the feast of mankind. The state is endowed with vast mineral resources including precious stones, fertile land, perennial rivers, large tracts of forest, abundant flora and fauna and long coastline.
Despite continued planning process, the state still remain deficient in physical infrastructure, industrial investment, entrepreneurial ability, skilled manpower and exploitation of natural resources.
The per-capita investment in industries in Orissa was (1961) much lower than all major states and National average (Rs 2303). The number of registered working factories per lakh of population in the state was only 4.6. This is much lower compared to the major states and the all-India average, where this was stood at 13.0.
In Orissa, there are 276 large and medium scale industries with total investment of Rs 1168 crores and employment potential of about 75 thousand persons. There are about 48 thousand small-scale industries in the State with total investment of about Rs 804 crores creating employment opportunities for about 3.5 lakh persons.
In the state there are, 12,56 lakh artisan units in the state with an investment of about Rs 31592 crores. The total employment opportunity of the sector is 21.56 lakh persons. Khadi and village industries also plays important role in rural industrialization of the state.
The Government undertakings and potential agencies like IDC, IPICOL, OSFC, OSIC, OFDC and DICs have been maintaining their efforts to assist in the growth of industrial units in the State.
Orissa has vast potentials for development of tourism, which have remained largely untapped. With a view to promoting development of tourism industries a number of tourism related activities have been treated as industrial activities. Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) is looking for the development of such activities.
The rural trade activity refers to the retail trade and small business. The said activity is providing livelihood to a substantial group of rural population in the State. It is evident that the rural trade activities are mostly dominated by the agricultural products, forest products and products of village and cottage industries.
These products generally are produced and sold in local markets. However, due to low productivity low investment, the trade activity in the rural areas has not been developed. Besides, the inadequate infrastructural facilities act as a major obstacle for the promotion of the trade and business in rural areas of the state.
Essay # 10. Infrastructure of Orissa:
In Orissa, the total road length of Orissa was 218.4 thousand kilometers. The total road length of National Highway was 1.6 thousand kilometers; State Highway was 4.4 thousand kilometers. The total District road length of the State was 9.5 thousand kilometers. There are 10.0 thousand kilometers belong to Municipalities of the State, where as the total rural road length of the state was 192.9 thousand kilometers.
This includes forest and irrigation roads. The length of surface road per 100 square kilometer of area was 12.4 kilometers as against 29.3 kilometers at all-India level. The average road length per lakh of population was 568 kilometers in the state as against 246 kilometers at the all-India level.
In Orissa, the total railway route length in the State was about 2178 kilometers comprising of 2035 kilometers of Broad gauge and 143 kilometers of Narrow gauge. The railway route length per thousand square kilometers was 14.0 kilometers in the state as against 19.0 kilometers at the all-India level.
In respect of water transport, rivers and sea are notable. Paradeep and Gopalpur are the major port of the State; this plays a strategic and pivotal role in area of Cargo handling. There are also inland water transport facilities in the State. The state capital is also connected in air with major cities of the country. The capital is well connected with the cities like, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam in air.
Post Office & Telegraphs:
In the state, there are more than 8 thousand Post-offices and 24 Telegraph offices. The population per post-office in Orissa was about 4.0 thousand as against 5.8 thousand at all- India level. The average area under one post-office was 19.3 square kilometer in Orissa as against 21.5 square kilometer in the country.
Education:
The teacher pupil ratio in Orissa was 36,32,22 in primary, middle and secondary and higher secondary institutions respectively. This was 64,37 and 17 at the all-India level. The per-capita expenditure on Education was Rs. 245 in the state as against Rs. 313 at the all-India level.
Health Services:
In Orissa, there are 185 PHCs, 700 additional PHCs, 180 Hospitals, 157 CHCs and 150 Dispensaries to cater to the needs of the people. Besides, there are 42 Medical aid centres, 171 HSCs, 32 MHCs, 5 Ayurvedic Hospitals, 537 Ayurvedic Dispensaries, 4 Homeopathic Hospitals and 478 Homeopathic Dispensaries in the State.
The number of persons per hospital bed in Orissa was about 2.2 thousand persons as against 1.5 thousand persons at all-India level. Likewise, one registered Medical Practitioner have to serve about 2.8 thousand persons in Orissa as against 2.1 thousand at all-India.
At present the State has 3 Medical Colleges, 1 Nursing College, 1 Dental College and 1 Pharmacy College. Besides, there are 6 Homeopathic Colleges ad 5 Ayurvedic Colleges in the State, to facilitate health education, training and services.
Financial Institutions:
The Financial institutions of the State comprises of Cooperatives, Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks. Above all there are RBI and NABARD.
Cooperatives:
The cooperatives may be classified into two such as; credit cooperatives, and non-credit cooperatives. The credit cooperatives in the State are of two types, short and medium term cooperatives, and long-term cooperatives. The short and medium terms cooperative are in three-tier system in the apex there is State Cooperative Bank.
In the middle there are 17 Central Cooperative Banks and at the base level 5878 Cooperative Societies are functioning. The long-term cooperatives are two tier systems. There is Orissa State Cooperative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank at the State level. At the grass root level there are 57 Cooperative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank.
The State Cooperative Bank is the scheduled Bank. Total membership of the bank was 4131 with working capital of Rs 578 crores. The deposit and loans advanced of the Bank was Rs 239 crores and Rs318 crores in 1996-97.
The total membership of Central Cooperative Banks in the State was 22.9 thousand with working capital of Rs.909 crores. The total deposit of the Banks was Rs496 crores and advance was Rs292 crores, according to the year 1996-97.
In the State, there are about 2808 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies with the membership of about 35 thousand in 1996-97. The total deposits mobilised by the societies were Rs 85.4 crores and loans advanced was Rsl81.4 crores in the year under observation.
There is a Orissa State Cooperative Agricultural Rural Development Bank (OSCARD). The Cooperative Agricultural Rural Development Banks (CARD) is the member of the former bank. The working capital of the OSCARD Bank was Rs 145 crores in the year 1996-97.
The deposits and advance of the bank was Rs 1.2 crore and Rs 14.25 crore respectively. The total working capital of the CARD banks in the state was Rs 147 cores. Whereas, the deposit and advance of the bank was Rs 4.6 crores and Rs 12.5 cores in the year 1996-97.
The average membership per society is reported to be stood at 906. In the State about 83 per cent of total population covered by co-operatives, whereas this is only 64 per cent for rural areas on 1996-97.
Commercial Banks:
In the State, there are 2170 Branches of scheduled commercial banks. Of the total the share of offices functioning in rural areas was 76.4 per cent. The total deposits mobilised by the bank was Rs 8817.5 crores in 1996.
The contribution of rural areas was 30.4 per cent. The loan advanced by scheduled commercial banks was Rs 3291.8 crores in the said year. The share of rural areas was 36.5 per cent. The population coverage per branch in Orissa was 15 thousand as against 14 thousand per branch at all-India level.
Regional Rural Banks (RRBs):
There are 822 branches of 9 Regional Rural Banks in the state. The total deposits mobilised by the RRBs was Rs 350.5 crores in the year 1997-98 where-as the total loans advanced by the banks was Rs 260.4 crores.
Other Financial Institutions:
In Orissa, there are industrial and financial institutions like, IDBI, ICICI, IFCI and Investment institutions like, LIC, GIC, UTI and OSFC, IPICOL are the state level institutions.