Malkangiri
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Economy
Horse riding
Minati Singha, June 2, 2023: The Times of India
It was 9am at Lochapani, an idyllic village in the Swabhiman Anchal about 45km from Chitrakonda block in Malkangiri, the southernmost district of Odisha. Along its solitary arterial road, a few women were carrying water pots and a couple of elderly men were sitting under a roadside tree. Over a hill, in a rare sight, came a tribal boy masterfully riding a five-foot-high horse, controlling it with a rope tied to its neck and occasionally patting the beast’s neck.
“Nobody taught me how to ride a horse. I have been riding horses since I was 7 or 8 with other boys from my village. I love playing with the animals. I take them to the meadows and bring them back every day,” said Elio, an 11-year-old Kondh boy.
Despite lacking any formal training, tribal children in the villages of Swabhiman Anchal are showcasing excellent equestrian skills. In January this year, the district administration conducted a rural derby competition as part of the Malyabanta Mahotsav coinciding with the Hockey World Cup held in Bhubaneswar. Through the competition, the organisers said they wanted to capture the value of horses in the local communities and promote horse-riding as a sport in the tribal hinterland.
“It was an amazing experience to take part in the horse-riding competition held for the first time. (My horse) Bholi and I stood first and won a Rs 5,000 cash prize. Now, boys from other villages also want to win the race and are practising for the next competition,” said Raju Sinderi, a young man in his 20s from Dhudhipali village. Like Raju and Elio, horse-riding is a favourite pastime of many young boys in these villages, most of whom are school dropouts.
“When the state government has been promoting and celebrating sports in a big way and hosting the Hockey World Cup, we decided to showcase the rare talent of the youths of Swabhiman Anchal by organising a rural derby. We have proposed the state government set up a horse-riding training centre to hone the natural talent of local youth, and also a stable for the horses,” said Raghunath Mundari, block development officer of Chitrakonda block, which comprises 18 panchayats.
The origin and breed of these horses, also known as Malkangiri ponies, are unclear. The Malkangiri pony is a little shorter than a normal horseand is thought to have inhabited the region for at least 100 years. “The actual history of the horses is not known. But it is believed that more than 100 years ago some villagers had brought horses from Andhra Pradesh. Over the years the animals have adapted to the terrain. They are quite sturdy, highly resistant and can withstand bad weather conditions, shortage of food and drought,” said Ashok Kumar Tripathy, chief district veterinary officer of Malkangiri.
Though all-weather roads have connected many of the 151 far-flung villages in Swabhiman Anchal, once a Maoist hotbed that was cut off from the mainland by the Balimela reservoir, tribal communities like Kondh, Gadaba, Koyas and Bondas still depend on horses for transportation. Locals use these horses to carry farm produce from fields to homes and markets, and bring back groceries. The horses are also used to carry construction materials and transport people to hilltop villages. Not only do villagers rely on them, but administrators also use horses to conduct surveys, and carry voting machines and election officials to polling booths.
“Until a couple of years ago there were no roads to our villages, and we depended on horses a lot. Even after roads were constructed in the last couple of years, the horses have been very helpful. Each of these sturdy animals can carry around one quintal load and go up and down hills several times a day. We buy horses when they are 1 or 2 years old and each serves for at least 20 to 25 years,” said Masru Khara, a 50-year-old from Lochapani village, who bought his horse for Rs 10,000 about seven years ago.
According to a survey conducted by the Chitrakonda officials, there are around 500 horses across 40 villages in the block. However, in 2018-19, there were nearly 1,500 horses in the area. The sharp fall in their numbers is a major cause for concern among villagers and administrators.
“Many people are not taking good care of their horses, while some are abandoning these animals. The horses can withstand food shortage and drought, but rain is a threat to their lives. If they are not sheltered during the rains, then they may die. Eight horses in our village died during the rainy season last year,” said Basu Sinderi of Dhudhipali village.
To help maintain their population and provide better care, the Chitrakonda block development officer has proposed the state government set up a stable.
“After construction of roads, people are abandoning these horses during the off-season in the hills where they survive on grass. Due to lack of nutrition, these horses become weak, some go wild and get lost in the forest while some are brought back by their owners when they need them,” said Tripathy, adding that mobile health units and a livestock aid centre in Chitrakonda can help provide veterinary care to horses and other domesticated animals.
Education
Malyabanta ExpressL: A school that looks like a train
EDUCATION EXPRESS JUMPS TRACK, BRINGS KIDS JOY
The Malyabanta Express has arrived in remote Malkangiri and 13-year-old Lachmi Madkami is ecstatic. So what if there’s no rail link to connect one of Odisha’s most dangerous districts, home to deep forests and deadly Maoist activity. The ‘train’ has now stopped at her school and Lachmi and her friends hop in and out of it at will, often many times a day.
Most school children in this impoverished swathe of eastern India had never seen a train before, too poor as they have been for decades to travel out to the cities. That’s when one government school decided to take matters in its own hands. The Government Nodal Upper Primary School in the district’s Chitrakonda block has done up its building to resemble a train, using funds from a scheme called Building as Learning Aid (BaLA). The school’s walls are in shades of blue, just like a real train, and doors lead to classrooms. The school calls itself Malyabanta Express. ‘Malyabanta’ refers to the contiguous tribal belt in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. The makeover of the 90-year-old school, with 13 teachers and 620 students, came about after it was enlisted in the government’s Ba-LA project. The job was completed on August 20, and it has left the students dazzled.
“I had never seen a train before. I now know what one looks like. It’s so beautiful,” gushed Ram Khemendu, a class VII student. Lachmi added, “I would only seen a train in Hindi films. But now it seems like a real train has entered our campus.”
Under BaLA, government schools are reimagined in such a way that the building itself serves as a learning tool. The innovative concept aims at qualitative improvement in education. It’s fun and child-friendly. In several Indian states now through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Odisha decided to implement the project last year and was granted Rs 10 lakh each for 31 schools in 30 districts by the Centre.
Headmaster Prakash Chandra Nayak said he wanted something novel for the children. Happy with Malyabanta Express, students now want the real deal. “It is unfortunate that even seven decades after Independence, our district has not been covered by the Railways,” a student, said. “We need a real train.”
Year-wise developments
2012: Developmental indicators, low level
The Hindu, November 9, 2012
Santosh Patnaik
Why is tribal-dominated Malkangiri not developing?
"We need a relook at the entire approach to development in tribal areas"
Abysmally low literacy, high infant mortality rate and inaccessible terrain put a big question mark over the talk of inclusive growth in this tribal-dominated district of Odisha.
Bordering Dantewada and Sukma of Chhattisgarh and Visakhapatnam, Khammam and East Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh, Malkangiri in the southern corner of Odisha has an infant mortality rate of 56 per 1,000. It has six per cent literacy rate among tribal women.
After the Maoists converted the district into a warzone by changing its status from a shelter area after they were flushed out of north Telangana in Andhra Pradesh in the late 1990s, there is spurt in violence. Over 150 people including 80 policemen were killed in gunfire and landmine blasts. Collectors of Malkangiri and Sukma districts were abducted and let off after some of the demands of the Maoists were conceded by the government.
“There is no semblance of any coordination among various agencies involved in the development process. They don’t try to understand the culture and value system of the Adivasis,” says Saranya Nayak, in charge of Action Aid in undivided Koraput district.
She feels there is absence of a humane approach. “Huge amounts are sanctioned but there are no serious efforts to understand their language. They are treated as second class citizens and when they approach a hospital for assistance, they are blamed for coming late or not taking medicines on time,” she says.
During a visit to fever-hit areas located within the 25-km radius of the district headquarters, The Hindu found that except holding a three-day medical camp, no attempt worth mentioning was made to educate the tribals on improving sanitary conditions. The tribals sleep close to cow and pig sheds.
“What can we do when they come to us late with symptoms of Japanese encephalitis. Most of them consult Disari/Gunia [traditional healers] and consider evil spirits as the cause for the deaths,” asks K.C. Mohapatra, medicine specialist at the District Headquarters Hospital.
Malnutrition is a big problem in tribal hamlets, despite the supply of 25 kg per household at Rs. 50 for BPL card holders. The delivery mechanism is very poor due to corruption and unwillingness of employees to work in Malkangiri — considered a punishment posting. The posts of the Block Development Officer, the Tahsildar and the Notified Area Council Executive Officer are held by one person. Of the 87 sanctioned posts of doctors, 38 have been lying vacant. Half of paramedical posts are yet to be filled.
Superintendent of Police Akhileswar Singh says three of the six Deputy Superintendents posted in the district have not joined duty and have been ‘absconding’ for the past 9 months. “It’s unfortunate that the ideologically bankrupt Maoists don’t want the tribals to join the mainstream. They are obstructing development work in various ways as they want continuation of their grip to indulge in extortion and terrorism,” the SP told The Hindu.
“They don’t want roads to be laid. Despite issuance of a work order for the past eight months, the contractor has not started work on a parallel road to Malkangiri from Jeypore, a distance of 110 km. Travelling by public transport in this badly shaped road takes eight to nine hours.”
“We need a relook at the entire approach to development in tribal areas,” says Jitendra, an activist of the Regional Institute of Tribal Empowerment & Solidarity.
