Deciphering regional disparity in western Odisha: Looking through the prism of history
- Indian Journal of Public Administration
- 66(2), Jun, 2020: p.240-255
Western Odisha has experienced hardships as the most backward region in the state of Odisha in all domains. The discrimination in terms of infrastructure, poverty reduction, literacy, education and health in this region by the successive governments of Odisha, establishment of institutions like Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) with its headquarters at Bhubaneswar with a small fraction of budget, less representation of people in decision-making bodies create a feeling of neglect and deprivation. The major thrust of this paper is to explore the multifarious factors causing the regional disparity in Western Odisha. It is only through mass awareness, empathetic, soft corner attitude of both central and state governments, involvement of NGOs, civil society organisations and change in power structure of the Koshal region regional balance in the state can be ensured. – Reproduced
Regional disparity, Cultural identity, Economic exploitation, Coastal conspiracy