For the villagers of Oringabadi, a nondescript tribal village under Gobara gram panchayat in Athagarh block, minimum amenities like electricity, drinking water, all-weather road and hospital etc are still a daydream. All the tall claims of the State Government of concentrating on development of the rural areas and more particularly on the growth of the tribal populace by providing basic minimum facilities look futile here.
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) scheme has simply gone haywire here. Crores of rupees spent for providing primary education failed to ensure any benefit for the villagers. A ramshackle thatched school building with crammed class rooms for about 85 students and three teachers speak volume about the state of education here. Since the school building is unsafe, the students carry all school assets from a distant place every day where they are kept after the school is closed. The mid day meal (MDM) is cooked beneath the open sky and served at unhygienic places.
During the last by-election campaigning, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had assured to make Athagarh number one area in the State but it looks the tribal village has skipped the attention of the authorities. Critics say if the condition of the tribal people in a developed district like Cuttack is like this, what can be predicted about them in the far-flung backward districts. Intelligentsia demanded immediate steps by the Government to provide the villagers with basic minimum amenities.