Ramakrushna Pradhan, Jajneswari Palei
Although, energy
poverty has been an antique issue of discussion and debate but its acute and
persistent shortage even in the 21st century world marked by technological
innovation, increasing energy production and worldwide dissemination of the
energy resources has captured the international attention in recent years. The
case of India with second largest population in the world is no exception. With
in India, the state of Odisha with 83.6 per cent rural and tribal areas with an
estimate of 51 313 rural villages and over 67 82 879 rural households; about 17
percent of villages lacking electricity; only 20 per cent of the rural roads
are paved; 37 percent of the rural population living below the poverty line;
1/3 of the total population constitute from the lower socio-cultural and
economic group; 36 percent represents scheduled tribes and castes; and over 35
percent of the rural population has no access to safe drinking water in
comparison to all India level of 84 per cent deserve special mention. In South
Odisha around 80 percent of the population is classified as poor and its
development indicators are often worse than Sub-Saharan Africa. Several
thousand households both rural and urban in Odisha do not have access to
electricity and to modern energy fuels as well. Moreover, a great number of
them have no access to clean water. This means that they do not have access to
economic development and they spend good deal of their time collecting
traditional energy resources such as wood, cow dung and water leading to health
problems and accelerating deforestation. In this background, this paper
endeavours to explain the political economy of energy poverty and gender issues
in Odisha and tries to understand how access to modern energy may trigger
economic growth and human resources development in rural Odisha and then to
recommend policy measures to come out of the prevailing problems and
challenges.
Energy
Poverty, Gender Issues, Political Economy, India and Odisha.
VOL.13, ISSUE No.3, September 2021