About District

Located in the southern tip of the state of Chhattisgarh, District Sukma is a symbol of diverse types of disparities. The district was carved out of Dantewada in the year 2012. It is covered with the semi-tropical forest and is a mainland of tribal community Gond; The district has more than 85% of its population as STs, 65% of its area is covered with the forest and an extremely low population density of merely 45 persons per sq. km. It also has one of the lowest literacy rates in India, 29%. One major river that flows through the district is Sabari and the district receives decent rainfalls in the monsoon season.

These statistical figures make it easy to understand the fact that the district has remained secluded from the outside influence for decades. The tribal communities which form the dominant portion of the population have remained unexposed to the globalized world due to the lack of essential logistics and communication facilities. Tribal population of this region were almost destined to limit their means of earnings to the collection of non-timber minor forest produce and rain-dependent agriculture and have been leading a life for generations much below the standards of the other parts of the nation.

Over a few decades, this region has become a fostering ground for LWE activities. Uneven terrains and the tricky geographic locations made this region a safer hideout for the LWE activists. Submissive nature of the innocent tribal further fortified their hold. Acting on gunpoint and fearing for their lives, tribals of Sukma are even taking the silent or active part in LWE activities mostly out of coercion. In such a scenario community mobilization for rural development becomes a tough challenge. It is of utmost importance to take along the tribal community in their own development process and ensure that they are not alienated anymore.

Apart from the inaccessibility, lack of quality and quantity of the human resource is a big challenge. This often makes the system handicapped in monitoring and supervising government programmes and schemes in an efficient way. Circumstances become further grave when the ground level functionaries are not capacitated enough.

To bring in holistic development in the aspirational district of Sukma by getting the people out of poverty and by providing them all basic facilities for leading a life with dignity thus improving the quality of life