Success stories can be scripted even in the worst Maoist-hit region. Tribals, who are often lured away by different interest groups or worked as migrant labourers in distant lands under hazardous conditions, can also be successfully brought back to mainstream life. This is what Sahid Laxman Naik Development Society (SLNDS) of Malkangiri, and the National Bank of Rural Development (Nabard) have proved.

In Malkangiri, the SLNDS and Nabard have successfully improved economic conditions of at least one thousand tribal families who were until yesterday struggling for existence. The two agencies — the former being a registered social organisation and the later the country’s biggest rural development bank — joined hands in 2007 to implement the famed Wadi project in at least 15 villages under Chalanguda gram panchayat in Korkunda block. Under the project, at least one thousand acres of waste and barren lands were selected where massive plantation have been undertaken by SLNDS with assistance from the Nabard.
Each tribal was encouraged to set side at least one acre of his cultivable land which was developed as a Wadi (family garden). In each Wadi, at least 25 mango, 35 cashew and 280 border plants saplings were planted. The border plants include karanj, simurua, chakunda, neem, jafra, bamboo and teak. Besides, seasonal green gram, black gram, groundnut, oilseeds and vegetable cultivation are also taken up as a part of inter-cropping mechanism.
Sixty-five-year-old Mulin Baxi, who worked as migrant labourer, is today a happy man for he has stopped migrating to distant places in the off-season. From the seasonal inter-cropping he took up in his wadi, he has earned Rs 8,000 in the last two years. The cashew and mango saplings planted three years ago in his wadi will deliver fruits by 2014, giving a per annum return of around Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000.
“I spent most my life working as a migrant labourer in Andhra Pradesh. My daily earning there was not more than Rs 50 which was insufficient to sustain myself. The Wadi project has helped me to earn at my native place. It has come as supplementary means of livelihood after my traditional occupation of agriculture,” says Mulin.
The saplings are not only provided free of cost to the beneficiaries, but also other input costs are also taken care of by Nabard and SLNDS. Financial grants for land preparation, digging of pits, fencing, inter-culture, soil management and conservation, seeds and fertilisers, pump-sets, tube-wells and dug-wells are given through Udyan Vikash Samiti (UVS) and Self-Help Groups (SHG). The grants are given through UVS and SHGs. At least 88 UVS and 54 SHGs have already been working under Wadi project.
President of SLNDS Bhasakar Behera informs that at least 75 migrant families have been successfully rehabilitated under the Wadi project and efforts are on to enrol more and more people.
“Since its inception in 2007, we have successfully developed one thousand Wadis with low cost budget. Those who had given up cultivation for decades are now taking keen interest in Wadis through motivation and inspiration,” Mr Behera adds.
The success of Wadi projects comes as sharp contrast to implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNRGS) and Horticulture Mission in the district. Despite spending crores of rupees, no visible progresses have been made under MNRGS and Horticulture Mission.
“This is high time the state government agencies replicated the Wadi model in other parts of the state and country to bring changes in the life of the poor,” says Manas Madkami, chairman of Korkunda block.
Nabard has undertaken Wadi projects in several states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattishgarh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. In Orissa, it has successfully 30 projects in 20 districts. Some of the tribal districts where this project has been taken up include Mayurbhanj, Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Kandhamal, Nuapara, Keonjhar, Gajapati, Nayagarh.