Patnaik releases first-ever tribal atlas of Odisha

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today released the first tribal atlas of Odisha -- a set of maps and statistics highlighting the tribal demography of the state.

The atlas has been prepared by the SC & ST Research and Training Institute in collaboration with Academy of Tribal Language and Culture.

The atlas has been edited by Prof A B Ota, director of SC & ST Research Institute, and reviewed by development commissioner R Balakrishnan.

It will be available at the SC & ST Research and Training Institute located at Nayapalli in Bhubaneshwar.

The atlas has been brought out utilising the data of Census 2011 and other relevant statistics, which is said to be the first of its kind in the country.

The atlas displays the salient features of tribal population of Odisha with a series of maps, charts and diagrams.

The atlas contains 60 plates pf maps along with corresponding graphs and diagrams which portray the distributional aspects of the Odisha's tribal population, ecological setting of the tribal habitats, their socio-cultural attributes such as linguistic/dialectical affinity, sex composition and literary levels.

"The book also shows participation of economic activity, structure of their workforce, administrative mechanism and a lot of related aspects," Ota said.

He added that the atlas contains plates of maps in each section preceded by an explanatory text.

"It will be a powerful tool for policy decisions and insight for social researchers dealing with culture and development of tribes of Odisha," he said.