The Rise Of Kalarabank: From An Underdeveloped Rural Area To A Smart Village

From the pre-independence time, cities and urban areas were the centres of attraction for all the socio-political activities. The villages, especially the remote areas, were neglected even after 50 years of independence. Kalarabank, a remote village of Odisha, was going through several issues due to the lack of attention until social activist and reformer Dr. Achyuta Samanta took the initiative to convert it to a smart village with all the modern amenities.

Being a native of this village, Dr. Samanta was well aware of the complications which needed to be addressed. An initiative that was started in early 2000 had transformed into a huge success when Kalara Bank, the first model village of the country, was inaugurated by the then Governor of Odisha Rameswar Thakur. Let’s have a quick look into the aspects of development on which the whole concept of the model village is based on.

The genesis of the ‘Kalarabank Model Village’

Located in the remote corner of Odisha, back then, Kalarabank had a poor literacy rate and unhealthy lifestyle. As a result, habitats had to migrate to cities in search of employment. But the reformation started when Dr. Samanta, a renowned educational entrepreneur, took the initiative to gather all the residents of the villages and motivated them to send their children to school. The establishment of residential high school and English medium school had also nurtured the idea of a model village. With all the villagers having access to the internet, today it has become a model village to the whole country.

Amenities Available In the Village

 All the sectors, such as education, health, and sanitation, environment, communication, etc., of this village have been equally developed to provide a modern lifestyle to the villagers. The important establishments that nurtured the development of this village are as follows:

• Kalinga English Medium School- The main development mantra of Mr. Samanta was education. So the KEMS was established to provide the opportunity to learn in English and get more exposure.
• Nilimarani Public Library and Reading Room- The public library was set up to make the resources available to every student of the villages.
• Women Community Meeting Hall- Without focusing on women’s development, the proper intention of growth is not possible. So the Women Community Meeting Hall was established for the women residing in the village.
• KIMS Rural Health Centre- To provide healthcare services to the villagers, 100-bedded modern healthcare was set up. Besides this, Kalarabank became the first village in Odisha where the village population is covered with health insurance.

After the successful transformation of Kalarabank, the entire Manpur Gram Panchayat has been reformed to make it the first smart panchayat of the country. All six villages named Kalarabank, Bodar, Ainipur, Siuli, Sarapur, and Manpur of the Manpur Gram Panchayat have access to Wi-Fi. Besides this, the installation of a solar power plant has also been done by Nilimarani Memorial Charitable Trust (NMCT), which supplies solar energy to all the public institutions of the gram panchayat.