Gajapati District is one of the most backward remote
tribal districts in the country. The development process
in the district is further hampered by the strong Maoist
movement. As a result, the basic governance and delivery
mechanism has suffered a lot leading to further
deterioration in the situation. The district is caught
in the vicious cycle of lack of development and Maoist
problem. Presently, the funds are being pumped in a
large manner into the district, but unless the basic
issue of delivery mechanism is addressed, the long term
development of the district will remain a dream under
these circumstances, it is observed that the
OTELP-Odisha Tribal Empowerment Livelihood Programme -
has evolved a model of governance which is working well
in the district, especially in the remote affected areas
where the traditional administrative machinery has
failed.
The Odisha Tribal Empowerment & Livelihoods Programme
started effectively from January 2005 in the district of
Gajapati on the basis of the existing guidelines of MORD
& GoI for the Watershed Development Programme.In the 1st phase 3 blocks viz. Gumma,
Rayagada & Nuagada have been included in the programme
and subsequently two other blocks viz. R.Udayagiri and
Mohana have been covered which is started from January
2008.The period of each Phase's programme period is
seven years. Of which 1st two years are consolidation
phase. Accordingly our 1st phase programme for 3 blocks
viz. Gumma,Rayagada & Nuagada phased out on 31st Dec
2011.And the second Phase scheduled to phase out on 31st
December,2015.For the success of the programme,the same
has been extended to new areas as "OTELP PLUS" to
cover nearly 191 villages in coming seven years time in
all the 5 TSP Blocks of Gajapati District namely
Gumma,Rayagada,Nuagada and Mohana from 18th June 2012
onwards. Beside that the approval for continuation
for period of 5 years from 10th April 2013 onwards. All
five Blocks and the on going OTELP Programme for
Phase-I, Phase-II and OTELP Plus are under the
administrative control of Project
Administrator,ITDA,Paralakhemundi.
In OTELP,VDA is formed at the Micro Watershed level
comprising all adult members registered under the
Society Registration Act. 1861.The VDA functions as a
decision making body and a watershed level committee VDC
functions as its executive body. Hence all the fund
meant for Livelihood components are directly released to
VDC's from ITDA,so there is no scope for tender or
contractor works. The FNGO and ITDA monitor the works
regularly and the community as its executants maintains
all relevant technical and financial records. The ITDA &
FNGO are working very hard to deliver output in all
components as per approved work plan and budget.
Therefore, it is proposed that this model may be adopted
across all the remote areas of the district in a
comprehensive manner to saturate these areas with
development and livelihood initiatives on a sustained
basis. The main advantages of the OTELP model of
governance are as explained below: |
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