Bhubaneswar: The Annual Economic Survey of Odisha for the year 2013-14, which was presented in the state assembly on Monday, revealed the wide regional and social disparities in terms of economic development in the state.
Poverty stricken Nabarangpur district has the lowest percapita income with Rs. 14107 in the state while Jharsuguda stood at the top with Rs. 25584; and the per capita income of the state in this fiscal is Rs. 25584 per annum.
Nabarangpur District is predominantly an agricultural district. About 90 per cent population of this district depends on farming to earn their livelihood. Despite number of welfare programmes implemented in this tribal dominated district over the years, the face of the economy has not been changed and seriously needs to be introspecting.
According to the survey report, the anticipated growth rate of Odisha in 2012-13 is 9.4 percent. The service sector contributes 57.78 percent to Odisha’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), followed by industry 25.78 percent and agriculture 17.49 percent in 2012-13.
However, the survey report noted that there had been a fall in poverty index by 20.2 percentage points between 2004-05 and 2009-10.
The survey also pointed out that though the share of agriculture sector has been declining, the proportion of people dependent on agriculture has not been reducing in the same proportion. More than 60 per cent of the population continues to depend on agriculture and allied sectors for their sustenance.
In fine, the report observed that, “the extent of poverty in southern and northern regions as well as among scheduled tribe and scheduled caste communities is still high and remains a matter of concern.”