Rural Odisha’s future apparently is hanging in balance as two vital human development sectors, such as education and health, in majority of villages are in a very bad shape, pushing Odisha to the bottom among the BIMARU States.
When the current flavour of the season is building skilled youth workforce, a whopping 60 per cent village in State have no high schools (schools with class 9th and 10th). Of these 60 per cent villages, in a high of 44 per cent villages, those who wish to study class 9 and 10 have to walk or pedal around 5km to get a school. Moreover, when only 7 per cent villages have accessibility to higher/senior secondary (+2) schools or colleges, Odisha stands worst among BIMARU States except Jharkhand.
The national average stands far higher at around 34 per cent. Similarly, only 3 per cent rural areas have the facility for studying graduation courses in Odisha against the national average of 17 per cent. Uttar Pradesh and Bihar score a notch higher than Odisha in this indicator.
Such revealing fissures in Odisha villages were made bare by the recently released Sample Registration System Baseline Survey – 2014 by the Registrar General of India (RGI). These slip-ups explain why Odisha rural areas bear a high burden of migration load in the country. The RGI survey has more startling disclosures with regard to the rural health scenario prevailing in Odisha.
With over 61 per cent villages having no health facility in Odisha, it fared the last among BIMARU States as villagers here have to walk more than 2 km to avail a health check-up against mere 29 per cent in Bihar. Moreover, when a State like Uttar Pradesh has facility for institutional delivery in its health sub centres in around 28 per cent of its villages, Odisha finished the last among BIMARU States with mere 11 per cent villages having the delivering facility in their sub centres there.
The result: Odisha has the second highest rural infant mortality rate of 52 in the country as per the recently released Sample Registration System – 2014.
Such worse parameters bring a glare on to the Government, when the same 2014 Baseline Survey reveals that newspapers reach to 80 per cent of villages in Odisha against the national average of 79 per cent. The exposure to television is higher in around 97 per cent sample village units against the national average of 89 per cent. Similarly, mobile exposure has covered almost 92 per cent of RGI’s sample rural units against the national average of 91 per cent. But when it comes to Government delivered services like drainage or sewerage system, only 3 per cent sample village units could avail so in Odisha against the national average of 28 per cent.
The bottom line of the survey results show that despite increasing outreach of modern amenities in rural areas, the purpose of development looks to stand defeated given the bleak education, health and civic outreach (all delivered by State Government) in the villages here.