Kalahandi, neglected most by the Congress

Merinews, Feb 24, 2009

Kalahandi has remained the same over the years. It has gained notoriety for starvation-driven deaths. It has gained notoriety for child-selling, again starvation-driven. The Congress, which promised to develop Kalahandi, let it down badly.

THE PRIME MINISTER of India Manmohan Singh, the President of India, Pratibha Patil and the Indian National Congress President Sonia Gandhi were reminded through an open letter that the Indian National Congress had been associated with Kalahandi since the days of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Recently, the young Rahul Gandhi commenced his Bharat Darshan Yatra from Kalahandi constituency. Still, Kalahandi remains out of the national highway network, railway network and the higher education system. It is also being neglected in the sphere of industrial development.

Kalahandi, often highlighted by the media and various political parties, especially by the Indian National Congress, has been more neglected and left out of development initiatives when the Congress ruled at the Centre.


Indira Gandhi visited Kalahandi in the early 1980s; Rajiv Gandhi visited in 1984; Sonia Gandhi visited in 2004, and Rahul Gandhi visited in 2008. Since 1980, the Indian National Congress has been ruling at the Centre (almost 20 years); but the visits of the said VVIPs have contributed nothing to the development of Kalahandi.


Since independence, the Central government has established a HAL factory in Koraput district and an ordnance factory in Balangir district but has not yet considered any industrial investment in Kalahandi for the past 60 years.


There has been a demand for establishment of a Central University in Kalahandi since 1988 because it is centrally located amongst the KBK districts, with better rail connectivity to most of the major cities of India being a possibility. A similar argument was put forth by the MHRD while establishing IGNTU and WCCU. A demand for setting up a railway factory in Kalahandi has been pending since 1994-95.

During the UPA rule, Union ministers of Human Resource Development, Railways as well as Road, Surface Transport and Shipping promised thousands of crores of investment in their respective states. The Indian railways promised Rs 55,000 crore for investment in Bihar and the ministry of surface transport, road and shipping promised Rs 50,000 crore for investment in Tamil Nadu. The MHRD promised IIT, IISER, IGNTU, SPA, Indian School of Mining, WCCU, CU in addition to the existing IIM and IIIT in Madhya Pradesh and the IIT, SPA, Indian School of Mining, WCCU in addition to the existing CU in Andhra Pradesh. But no such development has been promised in respect of Kalahandi by the said ministries.


A Central University and a railway factory are needed at Kalahandi now and the Indian National Congress has a great role to play in transforming Kalahandi. Kalahandi is now notorious for starvation-driven deaths and child-selling. It should become a reputed centre of development and growth.