Remoteness and Chronic Poverty in a Forest Region of Southern Orissa: A Tale of Entitlement Failure and State Apathy

This paper seeks to examine the extent, nature and structural factors (social, physical and legal) leading to poverty in southern region of Orissa, which has a dubious distinction of having the highest incidence of poverty among rural regions in India. The analysis is based on both secondary as well as primary data; the later pertain to a sample of households from four villages in Southern Orissa. The analysis reinstates the fact that chronic poverty in terms of- both severity and long duration- is an overarching reality for almost nine out of ten households in the region. Similarly, it highlights severe deprivation in terms of food consumption, with a significantly large proportion of households consuming just about half of the prescribed norm of cereal intake. The paper dwells at length on the existing policy initiatives and suggests alternative framework for addressing the issue of chronic chronic poverty in the region.