About Orissa

Orissa Review (Census Special)

GAJAPATI DISTRICT formation of the state almost entirely on the East side and a part on the North. On the north-west border is the Kandhamal and on the west lays the Rayagada district. The entire south of the district is surrounded by the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, which also encircles a bit of the eastern boundary of the district. The district headquarters town Parlakhemundi, is in fact situated very close to the southern boundary of the district which is almost at a distance of less than 5 kms from the borders of the Andhra Pradesh. The new district of Gajapati is constituted of two towns and 1,619 villages spread over 7 C.D blocks. It has 5 lakhs population of which male constitutes 49.23 percent and females 50.77 percent. The population growth rate during the last decade of the twentieth century is 1.4 annually.The area of the district is 4325 sq/km and thus, population density works out to be 120. Sex ratio(females per 1000 males) works out to be 1031 considering the total population of each sex and that for population of 0-6 years it is 964 indicating relatively very high deficit of females at younger ages. The percentage of population in age group 0-4 years is 11.83 percent and that of age group 5-14 years is 26.17 percent. The population in the working age group of 15-59 is 55.29 percent and old age group and
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Orissa was formed as a separate province on the 1st of April, 1936 drawing the Oriya speaking areas from different provinces like Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar. The then Orissa Province consisted of only six districts namely Cuttack, Puri, Baleswar, Sambalpur, Ganjam and Koraput and 26 erstwhile Garjats. Consequent upon the creation of a separate state, the areas of the Gajapati district was detached from the territory of Andhra Pradesh under Madras Presidency and merged with the new Orissa on the date of its creation and as a part of the Ganjam district. In August 1956, the Parlakhemundi sub-division was created comprising two tahsils such as Parlakhemundi and R. Udaygiri, which, in fact, cover the entire area of the present Gajapati. As such, this district remained as a part of Ganjam upto its creation as a separate district. Among the southern districts of Orissa, Gajapati lies between 18o45' to 19o40' degree North latitude and in between 83o50' to 84o25' East longitude. This is a district the major part of which is hilly and with undulated topography. This district is bounded by Ganjam, the parent district of which it was a part since the
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Orissa Review (Census Special)

age not stated group together constitute 6.71 percent. The age group wise distribution provides an idea of dependency burden and helps in planning of welfare services and business products. The district has 10.19 percent population enumerated in areas classified as urban. The major towns are Parlakhemundi(M), Kashinagara (NAC) having 43,097, 9,791 in respective order. The major religions in the district are Hindu (65.78 percent), Christian (33.47 percent), Buddhists (0.38) indicating although Hindu predominance is there Christians are a major discernible group. The scheduled caste population of the district constitute 7.50 percent and among them the major caste groups are Pan Pano (32.11 percent), Dhoba (14.01 percent) and Mala etc. (9.49 percent ). The scheduled tribes account for 50.78 percent population of the district and Khond (14.86 percent) Saora etc.(32.21 percent) and Shabar(50.84 percent) are the largest tribal groups in the district. The district has 1.75 lakhs literates of which 1.13 lakhs are males and 0.61 lakhs are females. The total literacy rate works out to be 41.26 percent, the male literacy rate being 54.71 percent and female rate 28.42 indicating substantial gender gap in literacy. Statistics on population reporting attainment of different educational levels reveal some interesting facets. Population with Graduate degree and above constitute 3.94 percent and those indicating no educational level are only 4.34 percent. The group reporting Matriculation/Secondary/Diploma as their level of education are 15.52 percent. Below primary group are 32.63 percent and those having primary and middle education are 31.25 and 12.31 percent respectively. Total population classified as workers in the district 2.75 lakhs which accounts for a work participation rate of
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53.11 percent. Of the workers 65.32 percent are main workers and 34.68 percent are marginal workers. The total population of the district belong to about 1.11 lakh households in the rural and urban areas of the district. Thus the average household size is 5 per household. Of the households 26.9 percent are occupying permanent houses, 15.9 percent semi permanent houses and 57.2 percent temporary houses. The rural household are spread over 1512 inhabited villages. Drinking water is available in 100 percent of the villages and of this safe drinking water is 94.11 percent. Electric power supply is available in 48.88 percent of villages. 38.16 percent have it for domestic purposes and only 7.08 percent villages have it for agricultural use. Of the total villages 59.19 percent have primary schools, 8.33 percent middle school and 3.9 have secondary/senior secondary schools. Only 0.4 percent villages have colleges and 7.8 percent have medical facility. Post, telegraph and telephone facilities are available in 11.5 percent of villages. Bus services are available in 17.13 percent of villages. Paved approach road is existing in 27.71 percent of villages and 61.24 percent villages have mud approach roads. The district of Gajapati was among the new districts formed in 1993. It has substantial percentage population which are Backward particularly Scheduled Tribes. Overall sex ratio is advantageous for females but female disadvantage is growing as is indicated by the sex ratio at younger ages and this needs immediate attention. The district suffers from educational under development and also major deficiency in road infrastructure and electricity supply. These aspects need focus to improve the condition of the district and upliftment of its people.
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Orissa Review (Census Special)

Basic Data Sheet
District Gajapati * (20), Orissa (21) ( Source: Census of India 2001) Population: Persons Males Females Growth (1991 - 2001) Rural Urban Scheduled Caste population Percentage to total population Literacy and Educational level Literates Persons Males Females Literacy rate Persons Males Females Workers Total workers Main workers Marginal workers Non-workers Scheduled Castes (Largest three) 1.Pan Pano 2.Dhoba etc. 3.Mala etc. 12,501 5,453 3,693

518,837 255,423 263,414 14.02 465,949 52,888 38,928 7.50

Number of households Household size (per household ) Sex ratio (females per 1000 males ) Sex ratio (0-6 years) Scheduled Tribe population Percentage to total population

111,405 5 1,031 964 263,476 50.78

175,850 113,924 61,926 41.26 54.71 28.42

Educational Level attained Total Without level Below primary Primary Middle Matric/Higher Secondary/Diploma Graduate and above Age groups 0 - 4 years 5 - 14 years 15 - 59 years 60 years and above (Incl. A.N.S.) Scheduled Tribes (Largest three) 1.Shabar 2.Saora etc. 3.Khond etc. Amenities and infrastructural facilities Total inhabited villages Amenities available in villages

175,850 7,626 40 57,387 54,959 21,643 27,286 6,935

275,534 179,992 95,542 243,303

61,359 135,799 286,870 34,809

133,953 84,856 39,164

Religions (Largest three) eligions (Largest three)
1.Hindus 2.Christians 3.Buddhists 341,308 173,663 1,972

1,512

Important Towns (Largest three) Population 1.Parlakhemundi (M) 2.Kashinagara (NAC) 43,097 9,791

House Type

Type of house (% of households occupying Permanent 26.9 Semi-permanent 15.9 Temporary 57.2

No. of villages Drinking water facilities 1,512 Safe Drinking water 1,423 Electricity (Power Supply ) 739 Electricity (domestic) 577 Electricity (Agriculture) 107 Primary school 895 Middle schools 126 Secondary/Sr Secondary schools 59 College 7 Medical facility 118 Primary Health Centre 22 Primary Health Sub-Centre 108 Post, telegraph and telephone facility 174 Bus services 259 Paved approach road 419 Mud approach road 926

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Orissa Review (Census Special)

District Highlights
Ø Gajapati is the 16th district in terms of size and 26th in terms of population among 30 districts of state. Ø Gajapati is the 15th urbanized district in the state having about 10.19 percent of its population living in urban areas while about 14.99 per cent of state’s population live in urban areas. Ø In terms of population per sq. km. Gajapati is 26th densely populated district in the state. Ø Gajapati has first rank in terms of sex ratio in the state. Ø There are 107 uninhabited villages in the district and not a single one village has a population of more than 5,000. Ø The economy of the district is mainly dependent upon cultivation. Out of each 100 workers in the district 78 are engaged in agricultural sector. Ø R.Udaygiri police station is having the highest number of villages (302) in the district and Kashinagara police station is having lowest number of villages (86) in the district.

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