• Along with land rights, they must have right to their language, heritage and culture and the right to develop according to their own genius. Their unique culture must be protected and conserved, which can play a role in enhancing their livelihoods.
• Tribal development is not about ‘mainstreaming’ tribals. They need to be given autonomy and powers to determine the development they want and helped to achieve it.

Forest based Livelihoods

• Tribes follow many occupations (mostly primary occupations like gathering and agriculture) and use simple technology. These technologies need to be improved in culturally appropriate ways to increase productivity.
• More than 50 million tribal people in India depend on NTFP for food, shelter, medicine, cash income, etc. Research is required to understand and improve processing, pricing and marketing of NTFPs with higher market potentials (e.g. lac, Sal seed oil, etc.).
• Upland agriculture and livestock farming are areas to focus with appropriate skill development and enterprise promotion, credit and Infrastructure support initiatives.
• Since processing and marketing are complicated and risky tasks for small tribal communities, the government should consider taking up such support initiatives at various levels.

Tribal Development Administration

• ITDA needs to go through a major make over and coordinate across all departments/agencies for convergence in planning and implementation of all schemes relevant to tribals.
• ITDA should play a major role in monitoring, supervising and evaluating programme implementation. There is the need for an integrated database for sector-wise analysis and identification of gaps as well as correction measures. All schemes/plans should be sensitive to tribal values and culture.
• The PESA Act is well-meaning, but its implementation in Odisha needs to have the right approach.
• In PESA areas, the Governor has the task of ensuring ‘peace and good governance’ with powers over the legislature and executive. As illustrated through a case study from the Govt. of Maharashtra, the Governor’s powers can be used to support tribal development.

• Allocation of TSP funds to Gram Sabha needs to be operationalized.
• A system should be set up to publish Tribal Development Report annually identifying sectoral gaps and suggesting corrective measures with clear accountability and timeline.
• All developmental, industrial and infrastructural projects in tribal areas must be undertaken with prior-informed consent of Gram Sabhas concerned.
• Policy for implementation of MSP mechanism for NTFPs needs to be laid out.
• Infrastructure and skill development, working capital and marketing support is to be promoted for processing and value addition of MFPs in tribal districts. To that purpose, the State policy should provide for O necessary convergent planning.
• State Government should take proactive steps to inform Gram Sabhas on their rights under the FRA, PESA, OSATIP regulations and secure these rights.
• A ‘Tribal Cell’ should be constituted in the office of the Governor.The related good practices of Govt. of Maharashtra should be adapted to the Odisha context.
• An FRA Cell should be set up at the ST & SC Development Department for State-wide oversight.
• Claims should be expressly settled under the FRA. Demarcation/Correction of RoR including recognition of community rights and conversion of forest villages into revenue villages should be actively pursued.
• Special awareness drive and training programs on FRA for the Gram Sabha, FRCs, SDLCs and DLCs should be launched in collaboration with CSOs.
• Successful initiatives and recognition of CFR in all tribal districts should be upscaled by setting up dedicated FRA Cells at the DLCs in collaboration with CSOs.
• Funds under Article 275/1 should be used for filling critical gaps in health financing in tribal areas.

• Anaemia of children and mothers is poorly tracked due to absence of blood tests for hemoglobin. ANMs are neither trained nor provided with equipment for the test.
• PVTGs need to have Antyodaya Cards. The issue of their not having identification cards must be sorted out, especially when they live outside the defined village/project area.
• Nutrition must be at the heart of development planning and implementation. This demands convergence among government departments, CSOs and corporate agencies. A nutrition-based approach to budgeting would be very useful.
• Collecting and monitoring nutrition data is critical. Loss in adult height by 1 % due to stunting results in a 1.4 %productivity loss. Stunting reduces IQ by 5-11 points. Eliminating anaemia results in 5-17 % increase in adult productivity.

Learning from Evidences towards a Zero Hunger Odisha

Several good practices were discussed lessons from which can be replicated to work towards a Zero-Hunger Odisha:

• Hunger Mapping in Odisha supported by WFP
• Positive Impact of the MDM programme on school learning and cognitive development of children.
• Community-based sustainable agricultural practices (a combination of farm-grown crops, kitchen gardens and gathering from the forest) implemented by Living Farms to enhance food security among Kondh households.
• Community-based social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) for nutrition in Bihar.
• Effectiveness of the IT-enabled PDS system to improve food outreach under the NFSA.
• Positive impact of community nutrition awareness under the LANSA project of MSSRF at Jeypore.
• Smart agriculture practices and food sufficiency among small holder farmers as supported by Techno Serve India.
• The important role of micronutrients in fortified foods in addressing anaemia and sickle cell anaemia in Odisha as evidenced by Food Fortification Initiative (FFI).

• A comprehensive Nutrition Mission to be to set up to address emerging issues relating to health and nutrition
• Climate-smart and nutrition-sensitive agriculture should be promoted to address protein hunger and dietary diversity including:
  • A diverse crop menu along with incentives to Farmer Producers’ Organizations and necessary extension support.
  • Promotion of millet with necessary input, extension support and MSP for millet with twice the procurement price of rice.
  • Kitchen gardens through a cluster development approach.
• ration card portability system should be institutionalized to support vulnerable communities like PVTGs, who are deprived of their food and nutrition entitlement due to nonportability of ration cards when they live outside the village/project area as defined by the government.
• The State Food Commission should be empowered to implement NFSA effectively in collaboration with government departments, local governments and community institutions.
• comprehensive food and nutrition Surveillance system should be established with following provisions:
  • Prepare/maintain a baseline on food and nutrition security for all social, population and age groups with an emphasis on vulnerability and social exclusion
  • Set measurable targets in line with WHA and SDG targets.
  • Develop and implement a protocol for quick response in vulnerable hotspots.
  • Publish annual State Food and Nutrition Report with district and block ranking on key indicators.
• AWCs need to be converted into daylong creches: Besides incentivizing attendance by the under-3 cohort to attend AWCs, this will support the right to education of the older siblings and the right to work of parents.
• Service protocol of community based management of acute malnutrition should be adopted vesting primary responsibility with AWCs, making adequate resource provision and involving community and civil society organizations.
• Bio-fortified crops should be promoted by establishing a Bio-Fortification Mission and Bio-safety Authority.
• A Convergence strategy for departments concerned with food, nutrition, health and livelihoods should be implemented to ensure sustainable food and nutrition security in the State. Apart from the government departments, CSOs and corporate organizations should also be part of this strategy.
• well-spelt-out nutrition agenda should be included in planning, monitoring and implementation at local level:
  • Sensitize the Gram/Ward Sabhas on nutrition issues, help develop a local nutrition agenda and integrate in local planning and monitoring by the PRIs/ULBs;
  • Promote social audit to monitor access to PDS and government action plan involving other schemes/programmes supporting food security.
  • Promote replication of innovations like Grain bank by Agragamee, Chhattisgarh’s Phulwari (AWC-cum-creche) model, etc.
• Nutrition Budgeting should be institutionalized to help track allocation and expenditure on various aspects of nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific interventions, which is not possible under the existing budget framework.
• Nutrition Behavior Change should be emphasized through capacity building, communication campaign and advocacy (e.g. the Bihar experience of SBCC for nutrition).

Extensive Livestock System

• Although more than 70% of rural households do backyard poultry with desi (indigenous) birds and 84% of all birds in backyard poultry are desi, government scheme/programmes focus on broiler and improved cross bred birds to the exclusion of desi birds.
• There appears a lack of livestock database and people’s awareness on livestock diseases and preventive measures. Adequate IEC materials are not available for awareness building.
• Extension services for vaccination and de- worming are not reaching the livestock farmers as required.
• There appears a greater need to motivate people to take up livestock rearing in an enterprise mode.
• Breeding and feeding is another area of concern along with inequity and inequality in distribution of commons and grazing areas and predation. Grazing-based livestock rearing is considered non-productive.

Mitigating Droughts in Rain-fed Areas

• Although the average rainfall is high in Odisha, crop failure has almost become a common feature. In 2015, twenty-five out of thirty districts were declared drought affected.
• Water harvesting and management practices have not been widespread. Participatory irrigation management through pani panchayat implemented by the government has not been very successful. The government programmes for bore well, lift irrigation etc. need to be backed by a robust aquifer based ground water strategy, observed the participants.
• Rain-fed agriculture being increasingly vulnerable to climate change/variability, more effort is needed for securing rain-fed crops from drought spells. The practice of shared or protective irrigation for rain-fed crops requires more attention and orientation.
• Erratic rainfall, lack of rainwater conservation, depleting ground water, lack of irrigation facilities, mono-cropping, degradation of natural ecosystem and intensive agricultural practices are affecting resilience against droughts.

• Investments should be made for strengthening support systems for local selective breeding and shelter for small ruminants.
• Appropriate changes in the revenue law is necessary to provide greater authority to Panchayats for the management of commons.
• Investments from MGNREGA and TSP funds should be leveraged to improve shelter and biomass regeneration.
• An adequate institutional system should be developed involving trained local youth/women to provide extension services to households for hygiene and healthcare of livestock.
• Long-term measures should be worked out to deal with different types droughts in Odisha based on longitudinal analysis of past droughts and performance of remedial interventionsby research organizations in collaboration with ACRIPDA, IIWM,NCDS and OUAT.
• Strategy for improving ground water management and use should be re-examined and revised with support from ACWADAM (Pune) or other related agency(ies).
• Capacities of different programmes and CSOs in different districts/blocks should be mapped.

• There is a need to create employment through ambitious implementation of the MGNREGS. Transparency and accountability in MGNREGA is hampered by the fact the muster rolls are in English and the workers cannot read them. Workers have to travel long distances to get their payments, which needs to be eased. Innovative projects need to be identified to stimulate demand from people and engage more workers.
• MGNREGS implementation in Mayurbhanj has emerged as a model. Convergence of various schemes, crafting of different livelihood options and enhancing access to MGNREGS are the critical aspects. Mango, rubber and cashew plantations have been expanded. Producers’ groups, have been formed, financial support provided and market linkages built for strengthening enterprises.
• There should be focus on natural resource based livelihood interventions in MGNREGS, which can simultaneously provide employment, increase agricultural income and growth and promote enterprise development.
• Planning for MGNREGS projects can be made completely demand-driven through IPPE process and ensure 100 days’ employment for at least 25% of general job card holders and 150 days for PVTGs, PWDs, distress migrants and people living in disaster affected/prone regions.
• MGNREGS governance should be improved by reviving/functionalizing the OSSAT, facilitating regular social audits and strengthening rapid grievance redress mechanisms. A grievance redressal mechanism for exploitation and sexual harassment needs to be in place.

Skill:

• Skill development programmes are more focused on targets and numbers than quality of training. Skill training is male-oriented. People believe that skill education leads to low-paid jobs, which dampens people’s interest and participation.
• Unemployment is increasing rapidly among unorganized workers, who generally suffer from low wage payment and low income growth.
• Lack of portability of entitlements and basic services for inter- and intra-state migrant workers is a major concern.
• The government has adopted a policy for promoting start-ups which has substantially expanded the scope for entrepreneurship development.
• Realistic mapping of skills and available opportunities in the rural and tribal regions of Odisha can help to improve the design and outputs of skill development programmes.
• Gender and ability-friendly skill training and quality placement is important for improved employment.
• Decentralized skill training centres with CSR support can strengthen outreach and participation.

Migration:

• Odisha is one of the key labour sending states. Informal estimates suggest that about three lakh unskilled labour migration take place from western and southern districts and mostly, the poor landless, small and marginal farmers migrate with families.
• There is an increasing trend of youth migration.
• Migration can be turned into an economic opportunity by overcoming its bottlenecks, i.e. lack of access to health care, social entitlements, education for children, lack of improvement in skill profile and employability, etc.
• There is a need for a dynamic policy for the migrants addressing issues of accessing social security schemes, skill development support and improvement in employability.
• A database on migration and labour mobility is important to keep a tab on the current situation and take corrective measures.
• Development planning should focus on and include initiatives to reduce distress migration and labour trafficking with effective enforcement, employment and social inclusion.

• 150 days of employment should be provided under mGnREGS to FRA beneficiaries, PVTG, PWDs, distress migrants and people living in disaster affected/prone regions.
• Realistic mapping of skill and competency in rural and tribal region of Odisha and skill enhancement of youth, women and other workers should be initiated in a joined-up approach to ensure access to sustainable employment.
• Decentralized skill training centres and CSR partnerships should be set up for improved employability of youth and other workers from vulnerable communities in remote locations.
• A policy should be adopted on portability of PDS and other universal government entitlements for poor workers and their families migrating for employment within and outside the state.
• Adequate seasonal hostel facilities should be set up for children at sources and education, nutrition and basic services for migrant workers and their families ensured at key destinations within Odisha.
• Mechanisms should be set up for safe, informed skilled migration and transparent and effective grievance redressal;inter-state MoUs should be initiated for nonexploitative labour and social security.
• Persons with disabilities (PwDs) should be included in the main workforce.
• Measures should be taken for timely release of wages under the MGNREGS and improvement in wage disbursal system.

• Pre-school education is the most neglected part of ICDS which leads to poor quality education at the primary level. Therefore, quality pre-school education should be treated as a governance issue and integrated with primary education cycle. Moreover, varieties of teachers (Gana Shikshak, Para teacher Shiksha Sahayak, Junior Teacher, Regular Teachers, etc.) have been recruited in the State. Under-qualified teachers continue in primary schools (20,471) and upper primary schools (936). Of these, 1,265 are under-matriculate while 20,142 are only matriculates without any professional qualification.
• Though the teacher preparation initiative appears a good initiative, the TET result is not encouraging which needs to be reviewed. Long-term planning and follow-up is required for improving quality of teachers’ training. Separate plan for training of teachers in KBK districts should also be thought of and collaborative learning between students and teachers to be encouraged.
• The curriculum lacks the objective of achieving the child’s understanding and increasing the learning zeal. Consequently, learning outcomes of students do not reach desirable levels as evident from NAS and ASER reports of various years. As far as assessment is concerned, focus must be on ‘assessment for learning’ than on ‘assessment of learning’.
• Though the PTR looks healthy in the State, there are gaps in rationalization of teachers as per RTE norm. 3,440 (5.5%) schools were functioning in the State with single teachers. Rationalisation of vacancies of teachers was not done and teacher- pupil ratio in some schools remained as low as 1:187 in primary schools and 1:272 in upper primary schools (CAG Report, 2014-15).
• Input-based monitoring must give way to an outcome-oriented one with focus on student learning.
• Community is the key to monitor and extend necessary support in the regular functioning of schools. But it is observed that, Janch Committees/SMCs/ SMDCs are often functional only as a rhetoric. Actual community monitoring is neither encouraged nor respected.
• There is no State Advisory Board of Education to examine different programmes and schemes relating to education being implemented in the State and to advise the State Government for enhancing quality of school education.

Equity and Inclusion in Education

• Though RTE Act and rules spell out to address diversity in the class the mechanism to implement that is missing. Schools to have adequate and appropriate support (including teachers with special education training) irrespective of absent or presence of CWSN.
• Tribal population constitutes 23% of the total population of the State. The tribes have their own languages and culture. There are 6118 schools in Odisha which have 100% ST enrolment (DISE 2013-14). Government of Odisha has the Multilingual Education Policy and MLE programme is being implemented in around 2000 schools. The MLE schools are located in very scattered manner and there is no proper monitoring and follow-up to ensure proper implementation of the same.
• The girls in KGBVs are dropouts and need special instruction. Training of KGBV teachers and wardens on bridging strategies is urgently needed. Specific training on remedial teaching, assessment and accelerated learning is necessary for the teachers. The wardens need to be trained to manage a hostel for adolescent girls and be made aware of the rights of children.
• Children migrating to the slums of cities like Raipur, Nagpur etc. remain absent in most of the school days in a year. Bridging the learning gaps of children those are migrating with their parents is a matter of concern.
• Schools must maintain an inclusive learning environment and use multiple learning materials.
• Planning of SDP at the local level should take into consideration the specific education needs of the area, and should be done in consultation with the community people and through their cooperation.

• Closing of government primary schools due to less enrollment must be stopped. Instead, all-out measures should be initiated to step up enrolment in conformity with the RTE Act.
• There are 6,118 schools in Odisha having 100% enrolment of children from ST communities (DISE 2013-14). A concrete Plan of Action for effective implementation of MLE policy at elementary level must be prepared and executed.
• Corrective measures must be taken in a time bound manner to ensure RTE compliance in terms of having good quality teachers in schools and having a sound PTR. A fair and transparent teacher recruitment and transfer policy should be adopted.
• Courses and approaches should be established in a planned way for continuing professional development of teachers and teacher educators through integration of ICT. While the teachers require resource support on regular basis, those working in remote areas need onsite support. For this a combined effort of sub-district level education officials, resourceful NGOs and community members may be initiated.
• The school curriculum needs to be revised and CCE to be implemented with focus on both “assessment for learning and assessment of learning.”
• Special learning materials should be developed for improving equity and quality of school education. Social support groups including CSOs need to be encouraged to provide resource support in terms of contextual local resources and methods for making learning meaningful.
• Regulatory body needs to be established to monitor private schools.
• Community-based monitoring system at school level should be strengthened and institutionalized.
• Collaborative mechanism should be developed to involve CSOs for reaching hard-to-reach groups of children, bringing innovations and improving quality in education.
• A State level advisory body of selected academics, government officials, civil society organizations, citizen-activists and elected representatives with experience and expertise in school education may be constituted to examine the programmes and support the State Government in quality enhancement.

• The insufficient share of public spending in health care results in high burden of out-ofpocket spending on the vulnerable communities.
• Continued dearth of funds in the State hampers the effective rollout of several on-ground schemes.
• Financing of NHM through the treasury route delays the release of funds and complicates the problem created by financial scarcity.

Governance and Human Resources for Health

• Human resources for health do not just include doctors, but also other active and passive service providers.
• A strong and vibrant health system is impossible without health workers who are the ultimate resource. The greater the number of health workers, the greater is survival rate of patients.
• According to a rough estimate, there is a dearth of about 7.2 million health personnel today which is expected to increase to about 12.9 million by 2035.
• Various human resource reforms including meet the emerging health needs and reduce compulsory posting of health personnel, mortality. However, more far-reaching efforts
  monetary incentives etc. have been taken up to are necessary to bridge the wide HR gap.

Quality of Health Care Services in Odisha

• The local self-governance system plays an important role in health service delivery and decision-making powers need to percolate down to the lower levels. Health personnel need to shift from a ‘blind obedience’ to a ‘self-governance’ mode.
• Improved and transparent systems of human resource management are necessary in Odisha.
• There are several issues of supply, quantity, demand and the way they are dealt with at health service delivery point which are challenging.
• The fixation on doctors must change and more need to be invested on nurses as well as allied health workers.
• Day-care chemotherapy and cancer care services are being extended to seven district hospitals to help patients meet their tertiary care needs at the district level, which can save many lives as well as scarce resources.

People’s Participation and Community Outreach

• The importance of an extensive primary health care system that remains at the core of the health system cannot be overemphasized. There is a need for new and innovative ways to meet the present requirements of primary health care.
• Primary healthcare system needs to be complemented by public private partnerships at secondary and tertiary level.
• From the patients’ perspectives, the need to improve the quality of medicines, toilets and grievance redressal system in the public health system remains paramount.
• By integrating low-cost appropriate technology, community participation and community empowerment, affordable primary health care can be made available to people in remote tribal areas.
• ‘Sakti Varta’ as a tool for Participatory Learning and Action as a best practice from ‘EKJUT’ showed that if women from any community can be provided with proper knowledge and can work together, many health issues especially related to the maternal and child health can be resolved.

• An independent regulatory framework should be established for assuring quality of services both in public and private sector institutions.
• Through piloting, alternate models of service delivery should be developed to reach out to the poorest in the remotest areas.
• A strong focus should be given on Tribal Health and programmes are to be designed accordingly.
• Primary health care services should be repackaged and strengthened with inputs from pilot studies for its operationalization. Healthcare should be de-medicalised through task shifting and use of low cost technology.
• Evidences need to be generated through reliable and high quality implementation research.
• Health accounts should be institutionalised.
• Accountability should be improved through community participation by strengthening grass root level institutions like GKS and RKS etc.
• The issue of high out-of-pocket expenditure for buying medicine and patient transportation must be addressed on a priority basis.

• There are 4, 17,000 tube wells for 4.5 crore people in Odisha; but there is no assessment of their functionality, the water quantity and quality. Fluoride and iron contamination in tube well water (also in piped water) and its adverse health impact on common people is an issue that needs to be addressed.
• Though 25% of households have access to piped water supply, it is insufficient and affected by the problem of Operation and maintenance (O&M).
• Indiscriminate extraction of ground water is a cause of concern as it would impact sustainability of such a life saving resource.
• Inclusive management of water is critical as the marginalized communities would be most drastically affected by its scarcity or contamination. Importance of community participation and capacity building of the VWSCs and other community institutions involved is very important for successful O & M of water infrastructure.
• PRIs have a crucial role in creating water secure communities in rural areas, where a number of issues remain to be addressed: Slippage in government schemes: 32% of facilities provided through govt. schemes become dysfunctional within 12-36 months due to depleting water and lack of O&M.
  • Over dependence on ground water: 80% of drinking water is ground water.
  • Increasing water contamination (Bacterial and chemical-fluoride, arsenic, nitrate, iron etc.)
  • Absence of sound ground water governance leads to competition/conflicts for water
  • Lack of role clarity of different stakeholders including the communities for planning, implementing and monitoring. There is a dire need for an institutional framework for management of ground water.
• Inadequate coverage, intermittent supplies, low pressure and poor water quality are among the major issues in ensuring water supply in urban areas.
• There is an urgent need for a life cycle approach for urban water sector and focusing on urban poor. There are poorly targeted subsidies for the urban poor and devolution is not a guarantee for their access to WASH due to system inefficiencies.

Sanitation

• While the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) brings a lot of opportunities in terms of policy and programme support for building toilets, the target and contractor driven approach hampers the quality of toilets and undermines community participation.
• The main gaps in urban sanitation service chain are: open defecation, use of insanitary/unimproved toilets by people with individual toilets and discharge of untreated waste in water bodies or in land.
• Access, equity and sustainability in sanitation options are major challenges for the urban poor. The coverage should improve to include the poor.
• The Odisha urban sanitation situation, is marked by rampant open defecation by 33.2 % households. The State is second from bottom among all states in terms of number of households (39.8%) not having a toilet.
• Using toilets without Faecal Sludge Management (FSM) is same as open defecation. If at least one cesspool from each 110 ULBs in Odisha discharges the sludge openly, it is equal to 5, 50,000 urban people defecating in open every day. As the Odisha State Sanitation Landscaping Study 2013 (conducted by Practical Action, South Asia) low income people, and majority of them practice open defecation. Number of community and public toilets is not sufficient. Large mass of sewage/faecal sludge is being ultimately disposed of in normal storm drains or dumped untreated.
• All cities in Odisha need combination of approaches – centralized sewerage systems, decentralized wastewater treatment systems and FSM. Better FSM solutions are needed.
• Hygiene is the driver for use of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. But, no single department is accountable for this. Little hygiene components in multiple departments and programme are heading nowhere and, without maintenance of hygiene, improvement in drinking water and sanitation services is yielding little result.
• A State vision document on SDGs should be prepared (as has been done by the State of Assam and Andhra Pradesh) soon with inputs from all sections of society.

• Water security must ensure availability of water at each individual household level instead of community level.
• The local governments (PRIs/ULBs) must be made the units for generating demand, planning, monitoring, operation and maintenance.
• Goal-oriented capacity building of local governments (PRIs in rural & ULBs in urban areas) must be conducted on basic water resources planning, budgeting, water conservation and treatment, water distribution as well as O&M of water infrastructures/facilities.
• Considering the increasing momentum around SBM and the situational diversity, the menu of options for toilets and building materials should be flexible.
• Adequate and effective behaviour change communication programmes should be conducted for target communities/users under SBM to ensure construction and use of high-quality toilets.
• FSM must be an integral part of sanitation programme. The sanitation loop from disposal to transportation to treatment must be closed.
• Accountability needs to be fixed with respective departments for ensuring hygiene. Making one department responsible for this is ideal.
• Community based monitoring and social audit in WASH should be taken up in a transparent manner as per guidelines.
• Convergence across multi-departmental involvement in WASH should be ensured.
• A functional platform should be created for periodically sharing good practices, replicable models and innovative ideas involving all stakeholders.
• Corporate organisations should be encouraged to adopt communities/GPs with an integrated development approach. A shift from infrastructure/facility approach to community approach is required.

• The payment gateway operated by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) should provide affordable payment mechanism to benefit common people across the country.
• The Business Correspondent (BC) model has a huge potential for expansion to achieve universal access for full range of financial services.
• The financial inclusion agenda must include:
  • broadening of financial services to those people and enterprises who do not have access to financial services sector;
  • deepening of financial services for those who have minimal financial services; and greater financial literacy and consumer protection so that those who are offered financial products can make appropriate choices.
• There is a need for convergence of government and other regional level institutes. The PMJDY needs to reach households linked to economic activities.
• Implementation of “Project Loon” was an innovative initiative under which the internet giant Google designed a network of balloons floating at a height of 20-kilometers above the Earth’s surface to extend internet connectivity to people in rural and remote areas.

• Area-specific financial inclusion programmes should be developed and implemented in tribal and remote areas.
• NABARD refinancing facilities and technology support should be extended to CSOs including MFIs in the same way done to Banks, RRBs, etc. Interest subvention scheme may be extended to SHGs promoted by CSOs including MFIs, corporate agencies, etc.
• CSOS should have space in all financial inclusion policy, programme, planning.
• Representation of CSOs, MFIs and corporate agencies should be included in the SLBCs/DLCCs and other platforms at different levels related to financial inclusion.
• Skill-India must link with financial inclusion. Livelihood based capacity building, business and market linkage, technology adoption, etc. should be part of the financial inclusion domain.
• The existing SHG base should be leveraged for inclusion of individual entrepreneurs.
• An appropriate regulatory framework should be adopted for regulating and supervising non -NBFC-MFIs unregulated by RBI.
• Financial literacy should be promoted in a mission mode, covering all important aspects (credit, savings, micro insurance, micro pension, remittance etc.) and adequate and dedicated resource allotted for financial literacy.
• A cadre of barefoot bankers should be created from the communities.
• State level financial inclusion vision 2030 should be developed and implemented for inclusive growth with a clear time line.
• Corporates may consider spending a portion of the mandated 2% profit for financial inclusion in collaboration with CSOs/MFIs as part of their CSR activities.

• Systematic mainstreaming of DRR and CCA (focused on different disasters) should be ensured through dynamic, contextualized, decentralized and participatory planning and response system aligning with sustainable development Planning and using judicious mix of traditional as well as modern knowledge and skills.
• Disaster management plans should be revisited, reviewed and updated in a participatory manner and multi-stakeholder context.
• Guidelines need to be developed for execution of DDMA’s roles and responsibilities. DDMAs need to be strengthened with expertise, financial resources and technologies.
• Good practices of SDMAs in Assam, Bihar, Gujarat and Sikkim should be studied and adopted in OSDMA as required and vice versa.
• Comprehensive capacity needs assessment and capacity building to be institutionalized.
• The proposed SIDM should be converted to a holistic state-of-the-art knowledge institution on disaster risk, resilience, sustainability, environment and eco system management.

Enhancing preparedness for Smart Response

• Decentralized AWS system should be installed at Panchayat levels and the O-Prob initiative by DST needs to be revitalized.
• There need to be ICT-enabled mapping of pregnant women, disabled, malnourished and other vulnerable sections.
• ICT enabled assessment of damage, monitoring of response with participation of local leaders Y will help to build a smart response.
• Institutionalized community-centric response mechanism should be set up at Panchayat level. There is a need to emphasize the role of the first responder (community) and their preparedness.
• Institutionalized, inclusive and coordinated inter-agency response system needs to be built up with clear protocols on roles and responsibilities in enabling the smart response.
• Roster/pool of resilience experts in various sectors should be developed to support sustainable planning and development action. Innovative ideas and initiatives will be needed to reach youth, who would be very useful with their tech-savviness and familiarity with the Internet.
• Partnership is essential between the responder and the affected with dignity, responsibility and accountability.
• Strong and comprehensive database needs to be developed on disaster risk and resilience along with well-researched disaster risk analysis protocol.
• The disaster museum being developed inside the natural history museum based on learnings from the Kobe disaster museum can be useful in better understanding various disasters and response systems.

Convergence of global frameworks – Vision 2030

• The SDG framework, Sendai Framework of Action, Paris Climate Change Action and other frameworks need to be aligned while developing the Odisha Vision 2030 framework.
• Vision 2030 framework should be an inclusive programme taking into consideration the needs and perspectives of children, youth, adolescents, women, old, PwDs, minorities and other vulnerable social groups.
• Institutional mechanism needs to be set up for monitoring action towards building a disaster resilient sustainable development model in the State with critical standards and indicators – periodic report cards should be prepared to ascertain progress.
• Odisha needs to commit funds for developing the database/information system for better understanding of vulnerability and planning for resilient and sustainable models.
• An empowered working group should be constituted at the State level to facilitate action on convergence.
• The Disaster planning and implementation system should integrate gender analysis at all levels and engage youth in every step as much as possible.

• Advanced weather forecasting and warning systems must be established at Panchayat, Block and district levels with robust networking and communication links.
• District Disaster Management Authorities need to be strengthened with allocation of funds, placement of experts and strong management systems.
• Comprehensive capacity needs assessment should be conducted as a pre requisite of setting up of State Institute of Disaster Management (SIDM) and the SIDM should be converted to a holistic state-of-art knowledge institution on risk, resilience, sustainability, environment and ecosystem management.
• Multi-stakeholder platforms need to be established for facilitating and monitoring action towards convergence of various global frameworks in the Vision 2030.
• Protocols for Government-CSOs/NGO- Corporate partnership should be developed and implemented.

• There is a need to get corporate houses under a single umbrella to raise CSR resources and find commonality and convergence in issues and actions.
• A Coordination and Convergence Committee is needed at the State level with membership from corporates, CSOs, academia and government.
• While inspiration can be drawn from many similar initiatives to facilitate state level CSR convergence, relevant elements of those models should be carefully considered and contextualized for Odisha.
• Regular interaction is necessary between corporate associations (ex; CII, FICCI etc.) and CSOs to explore partnership and convergence. They should also collaborate with government putting together their financial resources and expertise.

• Coordination and Convergence mechanisms need to be set up at State, district and industrial cluster levels. Such mechanisms should have long-term (ideally 5-10 years), but flexible plans for making perceptible impact.
• Resources and competency mapping needs to be carried out both for corporate organizations and CSOs/NGOs to facilitate effective partnerships.
• Corporate associations (ex; CII, FICCI etc) should hold regular discussions with CSOs for facilitating partnership and convergence.
• All convergence and coordination committee at the State level should have membership from corporates, NGOs, academia and government.
• The CSR facilitating agency at the Govt. level should include all key stakeholders including corporates (both Public sector & Private) and the CSOs.

• Out of the 17 large states analysed, Odisha ranks 15.
• In case of household electrification, generation of renewable energy, ISHRI, slum population, population served per hospital bed, malnourished children, numbers of BPL families, Odisha is in bottom five.
• Odisha’s performance is also poor in case of essential infrastructure, health, employment and minority welfare.
• However, the potential of the State is high in terms of its finances. The road ahead can lead to better performance if all stake holders are involved in partnership and the government encourages action by private sector and civil society groups.
• he Odisha government has worked on modernizing governance by easing cumbersome and lengthy processes receiving services from government offices.
• Redesigning governance for the digital age is not just about computers and internet, it is the redesigning of government operational systems for smooth service delivery and improved citizens’ participation.

Fiscal and Financial Management

• Odisha has low per capita social sector expenditure, but, measured as a percentage of GSDP, it is above the national average.
• However, when social sector expenditure is viewed as a percentage of government expenditure, Odisha is ahead of most states.
• The state’s resources could be increased by:
  • Increasing tax (and non-tax) revenue: Presently, Odisha’s tax to GSDP ratio is about 6.5%, which needs to be raised by 4 percent to compare favourably with well-performing states at 10%-10.5%. Since tax is linked to income of people, support to people’s economic development and income generation can raise tax revenue.
• Accessing bigger Central transfer: While Central transfer has become more untied, it has hardly increased quantitatively and likely to remain so. Thus, the state needs to raise its own resource base.
  • Leveraging private sector resources: There is a need encourage increased private sector expenditure in important sectors with proper guidance and monitoring.

New Resource Opportunities for increased development space

• There are new and emerging sources of revenue which can brace up development spending at state and sub-state levels: Peripheral Development Fund (PDF), Odisha Mineral Y Bearing Area Development Corporation (OMBADC), Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (OBOCWWB), District Mineral Fund (DMF), Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF), etc.
• Lack of awareness of government officials, people’s representatives and the public, has hindered planning and utilization of these resources effectively. Intensive research, proper planning and convergence and implementation mechanisms can help tap these funds.
• Accountability needs to be fixed with concerned officials/ departments for effective and efficient utilization of resources at district level and below.
• Along with the annual budget, a budget statement on these extra resources can facilitate better use as well as larger transparency and accountability of these funds.

Need for Government Effort

• The govt. must carefully explore various sources for generating resources as there are limits to raising private resources.
• Adoption of technology, especially information technology, will play increasingly larger roles in improving governance. For instance, computerized treasury management, Human Resource Management System (HRMS), etc. have significantly aided governance.
• The state should make efforts to obtain maximum output through minimum and effective expenditure. The state government has adopted several reform measures which have increased the efficiency of the state secretariat and must continue to usher in such measures.
• Participation of civil society will also strengthen the governance process, which the government needs to facilitate and make room for.

• The Tax to GSDP ratio of Odisha should be raised by 4 % in a time-bound manner.
• New and emerging sources of revenue, i.e., Peripheral Development Fund (PDF), Odisha Mineral Bearing Area Development Corporation (OMBADC), Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (OBOCWWB), District Mineral Fund (DMF), Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF), etc. should be tapped and utilized in a planned manner at state and sub-state levels.
• District Governance Index computed on key development parameters may be introduced to assess performance of districts to extend necessary support and bridge gaps among districts.
• Resources at the district level should be efficiently used in an outcome-oriented, transparent and accountable manner. A comprehensive budget statement at district level may be introduced.
• Modernisation of Governance should be an Inclusive process. The civil society should be constructively engaged for assisting in implementation, strengthening innovation and improving accountability.
• Consultative forums to be activated for collaborative action between the Government, Civil Society and the private sector.
• Citizen-led Community Accountability to be mainstreamed through planned initiatives from the Panchayat upwards.