Good governance is about a healthy polity, healthy and well-educated population, low crime rate, higher farm and industrial productivity, affirmative attitude to uphold supremacy of law and citizens’ empowerment.
Certain critical areas that warrant government intervention without delay merit mention. Almost 62 per cent of Odisha’s pregnant women in the age group of 15-49 years are anaemic; 11.3 pc of state’s rural households live in kutcha houses, about 30 pc under-five children are underweight and 31 pc in the same age bracket are stunted.
About 21 pc of women have body mass index (BMI) less than 18.5; maternal mortality ratio per lakh of live birth is as high as 119, infant mortality under five years per thousand live-births is high enough at 39.
Only 26.4 pc of Odisha schools have computers, school drop-out rate in class IX-X is the highest in the country at 27.3 pc, gross enrolment ratio (GER) in class XI and XII is only 43.6 while GER in higher education for 18-23 age bracket is only 22.1 pc. Average of three years of rice production in the state is only 2,218.65 kg per hectare.
These distress signals have been picked up from the SDG India Index of 2023-24 of NITI Aayog and should provide the base for government reforms in Odisha. A few critical areas have been discussed below for targeting reforms to facilitate improvement in the areas mentioned above.
About 35 million rural population of the state - representing 4.4 pc of country’s rural population - lives in its 47,677 inhabited villages. Odisha villages are tiny habitations, with average population of only 734 against country average of 1,394. In Kotagarh block’s 133 villages, 17 have a population below 100 with Nuasajeli having just two inhabitants and Malaguda, 13 people.
India’s 5,97,518 villages are organised in 2,38,054 gram panchayats (GPs) which works out to one GP having just 2.5 villages while Odisha presents a totally different scenario with seven villages per GP - a situation that has impacted the working of the panchayati raj system. A critical governance reform needed is to consolidate small villages and increase the number of GPs. There is a case for having number of villages reduced to 35,000 and increase the number of panchayats to 15,000.
The crime situation in the state presents a grim picture. Conviction rate in 2021 in the country was 57 pc while Andhra Pradesh registered the best performance rate as high as 84.7 pc. Surprisingly, in Odisha, the rate was abysmally and unbelievably low - only 5.7 pc. It is a matter of concern that crime rate against children (crime per one lakh children population) in Odisha in 2021 was alarming at 54.8 as against country’s 33.6.
The state reported the third highest crime rate in the country in violent crimes at 48.2 against national average of 30.2. It also recorded the second highest crime rate in kidnapping at 12.3 as against the country’s 7.4. In case of robbery, the rate in Odisha is the highest at 6.1 as against country’s 2.1.
Administration of Odisha’s minor minerals sector continues to be highly unsatisfactory with minor minerals deposits in every district being exploited without respite while government revenue is going down. The sector has the potential of generating annual revenue of Rs 10,000 crore. Government having failed to induct adequate manpower to ensure a credible administration in this sector, it is desirable that the administration of minor minerals should go back to revenue department again.
That instances of blatant misuse of power in the previous government leading to huge loss to government and acts of favour have not been enquired into and action against the guilty not initiated, point to an approach that is violative of Constitutional obligation cast on the government and this could derail and meaningful governance reforms process.
(Former secretary to Government of India. Views expressed are personal)