Paper short abstract:

This paper illustrates how the political economy of resources distribution and entitlement in Kalahandi district of Orissa, India has widen the vulnerability of local people despite affluent of resources. It urges for the proper governance of existing resources to avoid such vulnerability.

Paper long abstract:

Resources play crucial roles in shaping livelihood among the people. But the access and utilisation of the resources many times are governed by some set of both state and non-state institutions. Thereby the access to and utilisation of the resources-human, capital, natural and community- as used in contemporary development paradigm, get hamper and affect people's livelihood. Under this polemic, this paper illustrates how politics on resource entitlement have historically shaped the vulnerable condition of people in Nuapada (erstwhile Kalahandi) district Orissa, India, albeit, the district has affluent of resources. Influenced by political economy doctrine, it captures the process of resource distribution and functioning different resource-based livelihood schemes thereby drawing a glimpse on resource entitlement of local people and consequent pang of vulnerability. It finds that the deliberate exploitation of colonial administrators to the local people, however, paved a way to immigrant to exploit the local resources, the collapse of the state command economy in the post-1990s, following the adaptation of new economic reform and the subsequent withdrawal of welfare state from welfare activities has caused serious disruption in the development of the district as evident from declining livelihood options and increasing distress migration. Now, the opening of space for elite groups and middlemen thereafter have allowed them to exploit both resources and local people thereby abstaining stakeholders from accessing resources and has pushed them into penury and widened the vulnerability conditions of local people as well. Thus there is a need to bring reform in resource distribution at state level.