Transforming Odisha: A State Government's Plan for the Next Few Decades of Development

A Call to Action: Introducing Odisha Vision

2036 and 2047 are pivotal years for the State of Odisha and India more broadly. These dates mark Odisha’s 100th year as an official Indian State and India’s 100th year as an independent nation, respectively (Government of Odisha, 2025). Given these milestones, leaders across Odisha have been called to envision a new future for the State. This led to the creation of Odisha Vision, a plan highlighting state-level goals and priorities for the next two decades.

Odisha Vision is guided by six strategic pillars for Viksit Odisha, or Developed Odisha (Government of Odisha, 2025). Of particular interest for those working in the development sector is the foundational pillar titled, “People First”. “People First” is built on the premise that development “starts and ends with people” and advocates for holistic and high-quality initiatives that advance the wellbeing of entire communities.

Understanding Vision and Key Outcomes: Nutrition for All

Development professionals can refer to Odisha Vision for detailed, theme-specific visions and outcomes under the “People First” pillar. One area of interest for many in Odisha is nutrition. Odisha has made rapid progress in reducing child undernutrition over the past several decades, and the government is striving to take those achievements even further.

Graphic showing five points guiding the Government of Odisha's vision to maintain nutrition secruity for all. — The Government of Odisha aspires to have a sustainable and holistic approach to nutrition with this vision in mind. (Photo Courtesy of: Government of Odisha)

According to The National Family Health Survey 2019-2021 (NFHS-5), the State of Odisha has seen reductions in the total number of children under 5 years who are stunted, wasted, severely wasted, and underweight from 2015-2016 to 2020-2021 (34.1% to 31.0%, 20.4% to 18.1%, 6.4% to 6.1%, and 34.4% to 29.7%, respectively). This suggests that Odisha is on the right track to improving the nutritional statuses for children under the age of 5 years.

Addressing the prevalence of anemia, which is often a nutrition-related health problem, across the State may prove to be a greater challenge. There were increases in both the total number of children aged 6-59 months who are anemic as well all women 15-49 years who are anemic (NFHS-5) from 2015-2016 to 2020-2021. Among 6-59 month olds, rates of anemia rose from 44.6% to 66.2% and then from 51.0% to 64.3% among all women aged 15-49 years. To effectively address anemia prevalence, the State will need to tackle social determinants of health.

A table showing the Government of Odisha's key outcomes for nutrition, including current percentages and projected values by 2029, 2036, and 2046 of children under 5 years who are are stunted, wasted, and underweight as well as the percentage of women aged 15-49 years who are anemic. — The Government of Odisha is striving to meet the following targets by 2029, 2036, and 2047 in an effort to strengthen nutrition for all. (Photo Credit: Government of Odisha)

One major challenge when implementing nutrition interventions in Odisha is geography. According to data from National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), a Government of India policy think tank, about 19% of Odisha’s population lives in urban areas and the remainder are rural dwellers. Furthermore, the majority of growth happening within the State occurs within its urban-industrial belt (Government of Odisha, 2025). Successful interventions targeting nutrition, education, or any other domain will need to focus on reaching remote and hard-to-reach areas in Odisha. Though this is not the only barrier to ensuring increased access to nutrition and health services and interventions, it is certainly a critical need.

Looking Ahead: Effectively Implementing Strategic Plans

Solidifying strategic plans for the future is one crucial step in advancing the lives and wellbeing of Odia people, but the success of Odisha Vision should also focus on the roles that intersectionality and partnerships play in implementation. The reality of development work is that community needs and issues often overlap. For example, there is a clear link between nutrition and education in that adequate nutrition is essential for proper brain development and future academic success.

The Government of Odisha should explore interventions that synergize efforts across multiple target domains. For example, a livelihood intervention that provides biofortified crops to local farmers is an income-generating activity for a group of primary beneficiaries, but also benefits the entire community as it provides access to more nutrient-dense foods to locals.

In the coming years, it will be important to monitor how the Government of Odisha structures capacity building efforts, especially those targeting implementation partners, and allocates resources across different initiatives. Attention should also be paid to how the Government facilitates community-led evaluation as data will reveal whether what is currently invested in is working, and whether it is worth scaling and replicating across Odisha.

These last few points are emphasized on the basis that policy planning and funding are not enough to address the implementation gap that can occur in development projects. The Government of Odisha should work to create strong systems that facilitate community-informed and community-driven change.

Sources:

International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and ICF, National Family Health Survey India (NFHS-5) 2019-2021, accessed June 26, 2025, https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR374/FR374_Odisha.pdf.

Government of Odisha, Odisha Vision 2036 & 2047: Viksit Odisha for Viksit Bharat, accessed June 26, 2025, https://vision.odisha.gov.in/website/pdf/Odisha_Vision_Document_Excutive_Summary_English.pdf.

National Institution for Transforming India, Summary Report for the State of Odisha, accessed June 26, 2025, https://niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2025-03/Summary-Report-Odisha.pdf.

Author

Courtney Moore

Courtney developed a passion for improving the health and wellbeing of women and children by studying and working alongside under-resourced families across the United States and abroad. During her academic career, she independently researched topics ranging from harm reduction initiatives in Nepal to strategies for improving Black maternal health in the United States. This led Courtney to believe that the most transformative change happens at the policy level. She went on to hone her policy research and facilitation skills during her time as senior policy associate at Children’s Funding Project. There, she collaborated with state and local leaders to establish equitable, coordinated, and sustainable funding for child and youth services. Having recently come to a crossroads with a desire to expand her abilities, Courtney embarked on a journey to develop her international field experience and acquire new skill sets to more adeptly serve communities in need. Prior to the Fellowship, Courtney spent a year living and exploring Latin America. She volunteered on public health projects in Peru and Costa Rica, and is grateful for having deepened her understanding of health promotion and education in the context of those countries. She is excited to take all she knows about community-based development and policy-level interventions to her work as a Banyan Impact Fellow.

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