If the versions of two Cabinet-rank Ministers are any indication, Odisha is the poorest State in the country.
Planning and Coordination Minister Usha Devi and Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy in the State Assembly have stated that Odisha lags behind other States in the country in crucial sectors, while responding to a question of BJP Member Dilip Ray on Wednesday.
According to Usha Devi, Odisha continues to lag behind other States in the country in the parameters set by the Raghuram Rajan Committee which was formed by the Central Government in 2013. The parameters on the basis of which the rating was done included per capita expenditure, education, health, drinking water, hygiene, poverty, women literacy, percentage of SC and ST populations, urbanization, percentage of families availing banking facility and road communication etc. The Minister, however, said that Odisha has been making continuous efforts to develop in all these sectors.
Similarly, Agriculture Minister Pradeep Mahararthy said the average monthly income of a farmer’s family in Odisha is far below the average income of a farmer’s family in other States in the country. Maharathy said that in 2002-03, while the monthly income of a farmer’s family in Odisha was Rs 1,062, it increased to Rs 4,976 in 2012-13. But the average monthly income of a farmer’s family in the country was Rs 2,115 during the time, he said.
The Odisha farmer’s monthly income included Rs 573 from wage, Rs 336 from farming, Rs 16 from animal rearing and Rs 137 from non-farming practices. The same year, the average monthly income of a farmer’s family in Jammu and Kashmir was Rs 5,488, while that of a farmer’s family in Punjab was Rs 4,960.
Similarly, in 2012-13, the average monthly income of a farmer’s family was Rs 4,976 in Odisha, while the national average was Rs 6,426.
The income of an Odisha farmers’ family included Rs 1,716 from wage, Rs 1,407 from farming, Rs 1,314 from animal rearing and Rs 539 from non-agricultural practices. Maharathy said that the income of an Odisha farmer’s family was less than its counterpart in UP, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar.
In Punjab, the average income of a farmer’s family was Rs 18,059, Rs 14,434 in Haryana and Rs 11,889 in Kerala. A farmer’s family in Punjab has an annual average income of Rs 10,862 from farming alone, while it was Rs 1,407 in Odisha in 2012-13, said the Minister.