Koraput: In view of frequent administrative intrusion by neighbouring Andhra Pradesh into the disputed Kotia panchayat, the Koraput district administration has decided to pay special focus to its border villages to strengthen service delivery and governance on the ground. Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have been locked in a legal battle for over six decades over the ownership of 21 out of the 28 villages in Kotia gram panchayat.Collector (Koraput) Manoj Satyawan Mahajan said senior officers have been directed to personally visit interior and border villages to ensure that people are actually benefiting from govt welfare schemes and that their problems are resolved on the spot. District-level officials have been asked to go to the villages, interact with people and address their issues at the site, the collector said.As part of this initiative, senior officials on Wednesday visited the border village of Raipahad under Nandapur block, which shares a boundary with Andhra Pradesh, and held discussions with local residents.Situated 80 km from Koraput town, Raipahad has a population of 82 — 40 men and 42 women. The village had come into focus in July 2023 when officials from Andhra Pradesh reportedly entered Raipahad for a plantation drive, an act that was strongly protested by the Koraput administration.During the visit, the team enquired whether villagers were receiving basic facilities such as electricity, drinking water, pensions and rice cards.Officials present included zilla parishad chief development and executive officer Benudhar Sabar, sub-collector Premalal Hial, tehsildar Debabrata Maharana, BDO Durga Prasad Dora and other field-level officers.According to the collector, the administration has decided to promote coffee plantation in the village to strengthen livelihood, responding to local demands for income support. Coffee saplings will be planted and coffee land pattas will be provided to beneficiaries to ensure sustainable income, he said.Officials said land will be identified for the construction of cluster housing and that arrangements would be made to issue Aadhaar cards to those who do not yet have them.Connectivity will also improve with construction of a road from the Dumuriguda RD road to Raipahad village under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, said Mahajan. All necessary arrangements are being made so that no one is left out of the benefits provided by the state, he added.
