Ratanei village, in Gosani block in Gajapati district, might be one of its kind in the country. As indications are, it belongs to two states __ part Odisha, part Andhra Pradesh. Of the 100-odd houses, 24 is in Odisha while rest ‘belong’ to Andhra. How the two state administrations are visible in one village is apparent from the electric poles. The power supply in the village is divided according to the territory. The poles on one side of the road are owned by the electricity board of Odisha, the poles on the other are of the Andhra board. The villagers avail of the facilities from both sides and would not complain.
But schoolchildren are the most confused. Not knowing as to which state they belong to, most pursue their education in Telugu medium, though their mother tongue is Odia. Since the Andhra government runs the primary schools in several such border villages, the Odia children have little choice without Odia medium schools.
If there is peaceful co-existence at Ratanei village, the Andhra government has gone a bit far at Nelabantu village of Kasinagar block, which is in Odisha. There is a school and a village road built long ago by the Odisha government. But the villagers were not happy with the dilapidated roads and inadeqaute PDS supply.
Taking advantage, the Andhra administration stepped in. It built a community hall, and even laid a new road in the village. The Andhra officials, villagers said, also asked them to pay tax. There have been murmur of protests by the Odia activists to protest the attempt to ‘take over’ the village. Despite appeals, the Odisha administration has done little. Slowly, the village is slipping into the Andhra territory.
There are scores of such villages where people live with an identity crisis. Though inside Odisha territory, the Andhra administration runs the show in many of these border villages.
What has apparently emboldened the Andhra officials is the ‘silence’ of the Odisha administration. Despite the Odia people approaching them, hardly any interest has been shown by the officials as alleged by the activists. The Andhra government has virtually made an ‘adoption’ policy __ build a road, a school, provide electricity to villages in Odisha and win the hearts of the people to eventually take over the village.
A whopping 137 border villages in southern Odisha are matter of ‘dispute’ between the two states. But many are slowly slipping into the Andhra territory.