Challenges in delivery of public services in the district

As  of  Census 2011, Gadchiroli district is  the  second  least  populous district of Maharashtra. The district is a part of  the Red Corridor. The Red Corridor is a region in the east of India that experiences considerable Naxalite communist  insurgency. These  are  also  areas  that  suffer  from  the  greatest  illiteracy, 
poverty and overpopulation in modern India.

Some of the challenges faced in delivery of public services in the district are as follows.

Difficult geographic terrain

• 76% area of the district is Forest. The district has the maximum “very dense” forest area (4706 Sq. Km.) amongst any district in India (State of Forest Report 2017 FSI).
• Undulated and hilly terrain where even the plains have a steep slope. 
• Numerous rivers and streams
• Loss of connectivity for 212 villages in monsoon for 4 months. Connectivity issues creates bouquet of issues and impacts every domain of service delivery - health, education, PDS, ICDS.
• Increased cost to provide all weather connectivity to reach last village.

Issues of forest diversion for development projects

• Increased cost due to Net Present Vlaue (NPV) for any major development project - many irrigation projects have become unviable - Yella Project.
• Issues of Community Forest Resource (CFR) compensation - Power Grid Project - increased costs.
• Delays in Project Implementation - Case of Wadsa Gadchiroli Railway line - Tiger Corridor.

Left wing extremism district

It is the 4th Worst affected LWE district as categorised by Ministry of Home Affairs. Reluctance of government functionary to work in such places is a challenge. 

Lack of awareness among people about their rights

• Large segment of tribal population continues to stay disconnected from the “mainstream”.  This leads to lack of awareness about government schemes and forest rights - the concept of entitlement is missing (though increasing).
• Tribal culture and norms - pujaris, bhumiya - Kurma Ghar, Sutak Pratha etc.
• Diversity across blocks
• Linguistic diversity -  Seven  languages  are  spoken  in  the  district  ie,  Gondi,  Madiya,  Marathi,  Hindi, Telugu, Bengali, Chhattisgadi. Hence, it becomes challenging for communication for government schemes and programs among the people. 

Source : Presentation by the district administration in the DARPG conference.