Chhattisgarh Project

The state of Chhattisgarh

The Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act created Chhattisgarh in central India in the year 2000. The state comprises of 16 districts was bifurcated from formerly south-eastern region Madhya Pradesh. Although the demand for a separate state of Chhattisgarh arose in the 1920s, there is no single factor responsible for the creation of Chhattisgarh. It is in fact a complex interplay of a combination of factors that paved the path for a separate state. The long standing demand and the movement for Uttaranchal and Jharkhand which led to the acceptance of separate states for these two regions, created a sensitive environment for the formation of Chhattisgarh. The creation of Chhattisgarh coincided with the creation of the other two states and became a concurrent process. Another important factor leading to the creation of Chhattisgarh was that there was clear acceptance, within Chhattisgarh and outside that the state had a distinct socio-cultural regional identity that had evolved over centuries. A consensus had evolved and emerged on the distinctiveness of Chhattisgarh. A sense of relative deprivation had also developed in the region and people felt that a separate state was imperative for development to take place in the region. In a democratic polity, the people's demand has a high degree of legitimacy and weight. Therefore the people's demand voiced through democratic channels was heard and this contributed immensely to the creation of the new state.

Since the formation of the state, there has been constant conflict by non state actors to ensure the indigenous people's right to land, forest, water and livelihood in the southern part of the state. This has lead to a lot of counter violence by state agencies and is presently a major challenge to democratic life.

Geography and resources

Bound by the states of Uttar-Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh is relatively small with a total area of 135,191 sq. km. There are 16 revenue districts, 96 tehsils, 146 community development blocks, 97 towns, 20308 villages and about 330 police stations. It is an area abundant with rich natural resources. Thick forests cover around 44% of the total area (59772 sq. km), which means that around.12% of India's forests are in Chhattisgarh. Chhattisgarh's fertile plains, known as the Rice Bowl of India, produce rice in abundance. Chhattisgarh is also India's second mineral producing state with large reserves of mineral deposits including coal and diamonds. The region has rice mills, cement and steel plants, and power generating units. Identified as one of the richest bio-diversity habitats, the Green State of Chhattisgarh has dense forests, rich wildlife, and over 200 non-timber forest products, with tremendous potential for value addition.

Population

• The population of the State is 2,0833803 which is 2.03% of the country and comprises of 10474218 males and 10,359,585 females. Chhattisgarh has a comparatively low density of populaton with 154 persons per sq. km, as compared to 325 persons per sq. km at the national level. The state is one of the most sparsely populated states in India.
• The population of Chhattisgarh is quite young with 33.2% below the age of 15 years. There is a lot of cultural diversity in the state as 40% of the population belong to the disadvantaged groups i.e. the scheduled castes (11.6%) and scheduled tribes (31.8%). The ST's are concentrated in the southern, northern and north-eastern districts, the highest being in Bastar.
• About 17 million people live in rural areas while the remaining 4 million are in urban areas. The rural population depend on agriculture as a source oftheir livelihood.
• The indigenous groups in particular have long been subject to exploitation by private and government parties. They have been deprived of their land, education, and health care, but are slowly becoming aware of their rights.
• In the last few decades, the demographic profile of the indigenous people dominated areas has undergone a change. This is a cause for concern as it represents large-scale migration of people from other areas who are at the helm of all the economic activities in the area. Also recently there has been considerable displacement of the indigenous groups due to land being sold to industries. Also violence from the naxalites and the counter violence by the security agencies has severely affected the lives of the people in Bastar and Dantewada districts. Demographers and sociologists are lately concerned at the changing demographic profile of the region since the proportion of the indigenous groups have decreased in the last few decades.
  

For A quick reference to some important statistics of Chhattisgarh State visit:
(1) http://www.chhattisgarh.gov.in/statistics/details.pdf;
(2) Chhattisgarh: Population, health and development by Population Foundation of India, April 2006.