Here is a shocker. When it comes to real prosperity ofpeople in Odisha, the State still finds itself perched among the bottom four in the country.

Odisha has managed to stay above Bihar, UP and Assam among the 39 major States nationally in 2014-15 in the real per capita income indicator. But Bihar outclassed Odisha with an average 8.5 per cent per annum growth in real per capita income during first three years of 12th Plan (2012-13 to 2014-15) against a mere 2.6 per cent by Odisha. State’s lacklustre growth trail is reflected from the fact that when Bihar increased its real per capita income by a whopping 45 per cent in 11th Plan (2007-12), Odisha could manage mere 13 per cent.

With a per capita income of Rs 26,531 at constant prices (2004-05) in 2014-15, Odisha fared poorer than even Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir as revealed by the latest release of Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).

Though in current prices (that includes inflation) with a per capita income of Rs 59,229 in last fiscal, Odisha improved marginally up to finish only fifth from bottom ahead of Bihar, UP, J&K, Jharkhand and Assam. Significantly, when Odisha could propel up Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) at current prices by around 282 per cent during the decade of 2004-05 to 2014-15, Bihar and Chhattisgarh propelled respective NSDPs by a mammoth around 426 and 321 per cent.

However, apparent silver-lining for Odisha is after a stagnancy in growth rate of real per capita income at around 2.5 per cent in the first year of 12th Plan and a negative growth rate of around 1 per cent in 2013-14, the growth in real per capita income bounced back to around 6.4 per cent in 2014-15.

But the lag here is the State with a decadal growth rate of around 4 per cent per annum during 2005 to 2015 has fallen behind its neighbouring States like Jharkhand (around 7 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (around 5 per cent).

But experts at the Xavier Institute of Management and the Nabakrushna Choudhry Institute of Development Studies (NICDS) fear deterioration in per capita NSDP or per capita income in 2015-16, courtesy the drought. The negative growth in per capita income in 2013-14 was the Phailin-impact on farming sector where the yield rate per acre crashed and farm growth tumbled down by negative 9.8 per cent, the same factors haunt back the farm sector following drought, observed Prof Niraj Kumar of XIMB.

Significantly, sources added that as per the Central team’s recent assessment, the fall in yield rate owing to drought in uplands has been to the tune of 65-70 per cent. Experts further agree that despite services sector making up over half the State’s NSDP against mere 15 per cent contribution by farm sector, the growth in per capita income has been slower in Odisha comparably. The reason: Average growth rate of services sector in Odisha during the first three years of 12th Plan is mere 6 per cent per annum against 13 and 9 per cent respectively in Bihar and Chhattisgarh.