Profile of Orissa:

1. Administrative set-up-:
Orissa is one of the 35 states and Union Territories of India. Despite its rich resources
endowments, Orissa has always been marked as one of the poorest states in the country.
There are in total 30 districts and 314 blocks in Orissa. As per 2011 census there are total
of 51,349 villages in the state and nearly 83.3% of its population live in the rural areas
and depend mostly on agriculture for their livelihood.1
On the basis of its physical features and agro climatic conditions, Orissa can be divided
into four zones-
a. The northern plateau covering the district of Keonjhar, Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj,
Jarsugudha, and parts of Sambalpur, Deogarh, Balesore, and Angul 23% of the
land mass.
b. The central river basin encompassing Sonepur, Boudh, Bolangir, Sambalpur,
Dhenkanal, Cuttack, and Nayagarh districts-23% of the land mass,.
c. The eastern ghats covering Ganjam, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Phulbani, districts-36%
of the land mass.
d. And, the coastal plain which covers the districts of Puri, Balesore, Kendrapara,
Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam- 18% of the land mass.

However, Orissa is a prominent State with highest concentration of tribal community

only next to Madhya Pradesh. About 62 types of tribal are living in the State with
their specific culture and living standards. There are 12 major tribes found in the state
they are: Khonds, Gondh, Kohala, Munda, Paraja, Bhuyians, Kisan, Sauras, Oraon,
Koya, Gadaba and Santhals. The socio-cultural structure of each tribe is unique.
According to 2001 census, 44.70% of total area of the state, having a tribal
concentration 53.68 is declared as scheduled area has 67.75% of the total tribal
population of the state.

2. Demography Demographic profile is the mirror of development and under development

of a particular area. Thus the population of Orissa as per 2001 census is 4.2 Crores

1
“World Nature Conservation Day 2019” <http://orienvis.nic.in/index1.aspx?lid=1&langid=1&linkid=234>
accessed February 11, 2020.
 making it 11th most populated state and decennial growth rate of population of Orissa is
20.06%. However, Orissa has 3.57% of the total population of the country. Orissa has an
area of 155.7 sq km, with 51,057 villages. All these villages are not connected by all-
weather road and therefore they don’t have an easy access to basic facilities. So far as the
sex ratio is concerned, the State has a favorable sex ratio i.e. 979 which, is in a better
position compared to the national figure of 940.2 Similarly the density of population has
increased to 236 per sq km out of which the density of urban population is 14.97%.
However, the state of Orissa has a population of 3.7 crores as per 2001 census. This is an
increase of 15.84% over the previous decade. However, the growth rate during 1981-
1991 was 20.6 and during 1971-81 was 22.17%. this shows that there has been marginal
decline in the growth rate. And such decline may be attributed to many factors including
higher literacy, introduction of various planning methods and their adoption etc.
3. Industry :

Orissa is characterized by industrial backwardness on account of poor industrial

infrastructure. Even though it has an industrious tradition of producing excellent handicrafts
through its expert artisans, the state has yet to take off with advanced and balanced industrial
growth. But the recent policy of liberalization has entrusted the government as well as the
industrialists to look beyond the horizon & open up a new chapter of industrialization in the
state and the natural resources available are to be exploited for better and greater economic
growth. During the eighth five-year plan, 12 large and medium scale industries have gone
into production; with project costs of Rs.8458.44 lakh and additional employment
opportunities for 1659 people were created. Likewise in small industry sector, 9428 units
have gone into production with an investment of Rs. 11.120 lakh employing 27.151 persons.
The state government is trying its best to take advantage of the recent economic liberalization
policy & is busy roping in foreign investors for new large and medium scale units in the
state. During the current year sixteen such units are already in the pipeline, with project costs
119 of around Rs.253.10 crores. In addition, attempts are being made to attract more foreign
capital as well as domestic capital. The leading industrial house have been invited to set up
iron & steel plants, cement plants, mineral based industries, food-processing industries etc.

2
(Sex Ratio in India) <https://www.census2011.co.in/sexratio.php> accessed February 11, 2020.
 4. Employment:

Unemployment is an acute problem in all the countries. It is found that as per 2001 census
the occupational classification of the state shows that the total workers in the state account
for 142.73 lakh constituting 38.88% of the total population of the State. Out of the total
number of workers, main workers accounted for 67.07%, cultivators are 29.69%, agricultural
labourer are 35.04%, house hold industries workers are 4.83% and other workers are 30.44%.
Besides these the number of male workers out of the total workers constitute 52.75% where
as female workers constitute 24.62%.3

5. Literacy:

Education is also an important indicator of human resource development. The literacy level
male has increased significantly to 75.9% where as female literacy rate is at 51.0%. The
reason behind the low literacy rate among female and SCs and STs is that there is high
incidence of drop out at the primary school level mostly in tribal and remote and inaccessible
areas. However, in order to promote the girl children education, the government has made
education free of costs for the girl children till post-graduate. Besides these there is also the
provision of reservation of seats in schools and colleges for the girl children. Residential
schools for tribal girl students named as ‘Kanya Ashrams’, books, uniforms, mid- day meal
and stipends are also been provided to the girl students mostly in the tribal areas.

3
Bureau OB, “Poverty Alleviation Programme Of Odisha Govt Praiseworthy: Prof Yunus” (ODISHA BYTESMay
13, 2018) <https://www.odishabytes.com/poverty-alleviation-programme-of-odisha-govt-praiseworthy-prof-yunus/>
accessed February 11, 2020.