Bhubaneswar: In order to accelerate development process in a comprehensive manner at least three Ministries of Union Government has come forward to scale up their activities in Kalahandi District.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the Ministry of Finance have selected Aspirational District of Kalahandi for massive development. .
While Kalahandi is one of the backward district, MoTA has selected this district for improvement of life and livelihood of tribals.
Similarly MeitY has also selected Kalahandi for this purpose.
Kalahandi is also been selected by DFS will scale up Financial Inclusion in Kalahandi, which is one of the Credit Starved District; officials admit.
Similarly to maximize network connectivity in inaccessible areas of Malkangiri, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has selected this Aspirational District for expanding its activities.
NITI Aayog is coordinating the development process of the backward districts in the country and Malkangiri is one of the 112 Aspirational Districts of the Country.
Odisha has 10 Aspirational Districts, of which Malkangiri is considered to be most backward.
While DoT has adopted only four Aspirational Districts in the country, it has opted for Malkangiri in Odisha, which is also a hot bed of Maoists.
Other Aspirational Districts are Sukma in Chhattisgarh, Chamba in Himachal Pradesh, Barwani in Madhya Pradesh and Gadchiroli in Maharashtra.
All these districts are most backward and poorly connected with network for which now DoT will scale up its operations in a big way.
While Universal Service Organization Fund (USOF) will be utilized for these districts, more and more Mobile Towers with 4G Features will be installed for maximizing the network connectivity.
It may be pointed out network connectivity in Malkangiri is considered as poor and being the hot bed of Left Wing Extremists (LWE)s it has received the attention of Government of India.
Odisha Government has been harping for expansion of network connectivity for these Maoist Affected districts.
Based on State Government’s recommendation, 483 Mobile Towers have been sanctioned to the Maoist hit districts. Malkangiri has been sanctioned 128 Mobile Towers.
Officials say that more and more Mobile Towers and improving network facilities will be taken up along with ongoing expansion programs.
Installation of new mobile towers and network expansion in these pockets will reduce the digital imbalance and benefit all sections of people especially students, an official said, who is engaged in such activities.
While Malkangiri has been adopted by DoT, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DoAHD) has also selected this tribal district, said sources.
With huge water bodies in the district, the DoAHD along with State Government will scale up activities in improving farmers’ income, which is an ongoing process of the Government of India.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has selected Gajapati for improving development parameters, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has also extended its support for Gajapati and added Balangir District in its list.
One of the Aspirational Districts, Dhenkanal has been selected by Ministry of Jal Shakti for scaling up development process, said an official.