The benefits of development have not trickled down to the people in backward areas, especially the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population of Odisha. The findings of two reports of NITI Ayog such as the Social Inclusion-2022 and the National Multidimensional Poverty Index -2023 on Odisha provide a testimony to the statement based on data from NFHS of 2015-16 and 2019-21.
The Social Inclusion Report has reviewed the whole impact of TSP and SCSP on ST and SC. The National Multidimensional Poverty Index has identified the percentage of the people who are multidimensional poor in each district. It is found that the districts with more SC and ST population have more number of poor people. The districts such as Malkangiri, Rayagada, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Maurabhanj, Gajapati, Keonjhar, Kandhamal, Nuapada and Kalahandi are at the top of the list, having about 20 to 45 percent of the population who are multidimensional poor.
In order to achieve rapid poverty eradication, the structural issues of social exclusion and discrimination against the people must be addressed. The approach of the Government of Odisha towards poverty eradication is mirrored in the Odisha State Budget and Odisha Economic Survey reports. It is found that it has not changed to adopt new approaches and banking upon traditional charity-based approaches, nurturing a subsistence economy without investing more in employment generation through distribution of productive assets to the poor.
While a lion's share of the budget is spent on salary, pension, loan and interest repayment, a lesser portion of the budget is available for capital investment for long term gain in achieving higher growth and employment. It has been suggested by many that the plan must be made to make use of available natural and human resources of the State by attracting both public and private investment in agriculture, industry, mining and the service sector, but there has been no visible plan in the budget for such a purpose.
The State Government has less focus on long term capital investment in building public assets such as irrigation, connectivity, transport, health, education and such other productive infrastructure to support agriculture, industry and the service sector. There is also no visible plan to make use of modern science and technology in improving the production by changing the traditional mythology.
A number of studies have found that many of the Central Government schemes, especially targeted for poverty eradication among the STs and SCs, are not economically viable to earn a decent living and are outdated to contemporary changing conditions. These schemes, mostly micro models and individual beneficiaries, are isolated from the local economy and do not aim to bring any structural change. Experience shows the schemes for the last few decades since the eighties have proved to be unsuccessful in meeting their purposes. These schemes are more used for short term political gains rather than being useful for economic activities. As a result, States such as Odisha continue to be a supplier of chief labour forces to developed States and it has failed to generate viable local employment in spite of the availability of vast natural resources such as forest, water, sea coast and minerals.
These schemes are also sources of huge corruption at different levels and are major causes of conflict in benefit sharing among the poor in rural areas. No accountability is fixed with the bureaucracy implementing such schemes and the selection of beneficiaries is more based on political considerations and favouritism. In the whole chain of the process, from beneficiary selection to its final implementation, there is no transparency and accountability. The long continuing State charity has negatively impacted productive working culture in rural areas and contributed to a negative growth of the State economy.
The Government of Odisha must ensure availability of productive assets for the resource-less communities. But in spite of constitutional provisions, the State Government has not shared the productive assets with the traditional poor whose deprivation is more linked to historic denial of productive assets such as land, education, skill, capital and other means of production. Though there have been provisions for TSP and SCSP, the ruling parties have not given importance to such provisions, rather they have set their eyes on short-term political gains.
Along with economic causes, religious, social and cultural issues are also equally important, which need to be addressed to bring radical cultural changes in the lives of the poor, but the social components in micro schemes have been missing. The poor people in Odisha are also socially marginalised and discriminated against because of their social identity. A majority of the marginalised section in rural areas has been facing hegemonic social conflicts, discrimination in access to market and in the use of public utilities available for production where the Government must ensure a fair share of the communities in owning the public assets and a discrimination-free environment in the production and marketing by enforcing socially inclusive policies for facilitating economic activities.
The public institutions such as banks, cooperatives etc. which play a major role in facilitating economic activities in rural areas, are not free from hegemonic control of feudal forces controlling the local politics. They play a major role in selection of beneficiaries of the Government schemes. There is a need to democratise the access of poor people to public financial institutions. The schemes of the Government must be localised and fit into the needs of the targeted population while encouraging innovations rather than following a common model for all irrespective of social groups and geographical areas.
The PRIs must be given power to plan schemes for their areas. These schemes must be linked to long-term productive asset creation for income and employment generation and to change the continuing exploitative social structure and unequal power relations.
(manasbbsr15@gmail.com)
