KBK Districts in Odisha: Journey towards development
6.4.15 The eight districts of Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Bolangir, Subarnapur, Kalahandi
and Nuapada (carved out of the erstwhile districts of Koraput, Bolangir and Kalahandi are known as KBK
districts) are considered to be under severe poverty. Multiple socio-economic indicators signal the backward
nature of the KBK districts: high poverty, low literacy rates, high mortality rates etc. The persistence of
under development in these districts is a combination of historical, geographical, social, economic and
demographic factors.
Weak agro-climatic conditions, poor connectivity and infrastructure, physical isolation and low social
capabilities among tribals characterise this region, which suffers from multiple deprivations and
backwardness: (i) tribal backwardness, (ii) hill area backwardness and (iii) backwardness due to severe
natural calamities. KBK districts are largely in hilly and forested regions: difficulty in geographical
accessibility continues to pose a hindrance to delivery of public services. The region is also home to a large
proportion of tribal population, which have been historically disadvantaged. Majority of tribal communities
continue to depend upon subsistence agriculture. Agriculture in this region is not productive and high
yielding because of its undulating landscape, poor quality of the soil, dry nature of the land and scarce
water resources. Rural poor and tribals in particular face severe food insecurity and depend on forests
for their livelihood and subsistence. However, agricultural production fluctuates from year to year under
the impact of natural calamities: droughts and floods, which affects this region. Vulnerability to recurring
droughts and famine like situations, have led to distress migration of the poor during non-agricultural
season. Forests are subjected to degradation of vary ingdegrees on account of severe biotic pressure,
intensive use, shifting cultivation, mining, diversion for developmental projects and lack of adequate
investment for their sustainable management.
The economic development of the State cannot be brought to the take-off stage, unless this region gets
special attention of the planners and policy makers. To address regional disparities in development, the
State Government has been implementing the Biju KBK Plan since 2006-07. It aims to create opportunities
for socio-economic-human capital development of the eight KBK districts and improve quality of life of
people of the region, disadvantaged groups in particular. District Sector programme relate to Bijli, Sadak,
Pani and Livelihood initiatives. Between 2009 & 2017, 24,228 projects have been completed at the cost
of INR 1076 crore under the BKBK plan. The Plan performed noticeably better in‘Sadak’ projects(14,643)
followed by‘Pani’ projects (5,744) and ‘Bijli’ projects (1,071) during the last eight years.
Except Subarnapur, all seven KBK districts are now part of the Transformation of Aspirational Districts
Programme of the central government, which aims to expeditiously improve the socio-economic status
of 117 districts from across 28 states. The programme focuses on five main themes-health & nutrition
,education, agriculture & water resources, financial inclusion & skill development and basic infrastructure,
which have direct bearing on the quality of life and economic productivity of citizens. Districts of Gajapati
and Koraput ranked three and eight respectively in Agriculture and Water Resources field upto Oct 2020.
Nabarangpur district ranked 8th in Basic Infrastructure, Rayagada second in Education and Nuapada stood
6th in Finacial inclusion and Skill development among the 117 aspirational districts.