Bolangir is one of Odisha's poorest regions.
Poverty, unemployment and illiteracy are serious problems here.
But in this region itself, there's a city called Kantabanji...
which is considered the industrial hub of the state.
The credit for this goes to the Marwari community...
who came here after Independence and settled here itself.
Today, 90% of the city's population consists of Marwaris.
In all of western Odisha, Marwaris have great control of the businesses.
It is also said that Marwaris monopolised businesses here...
and didn't let locals flourish.
Let's listen to the story of Kantabanji, in the words of Marwaris.
In fact, our native place is Haryana.
Our great grandfathers came here,
somewhere around 1947,
when India became independent.
My grandfather started his business here.
First, he came to Nangaon and then to Titlagarh and then to Kantabanji.
Back then, states like Odisha,
or say... Assam
and the politicians of these states and many others,
welcomed us,
to expand business prospects in their state, Odisha.
A person from our village had already come to Bargarh.
When the area was affected by drought,
he migrated to Bargarh.
The people of Bargarh suggested him to go to Loisingha...
and start his livelihood there by setting up a small shop or grocery or something similar...
In Loisingha, we had the 'Zamindari' of two villages,
one is Dumdumi
and the other is Manjeera.
My grandfather, Bal Kishen Das Ji
was a 'Raj Durbari'. (a courtier)
My grandfather was five brothers, and one of them migrated to Kantabanji.
After we came to Kantabanji,
we built this house in 1945.
My father was the first NAC chairman of the municipality and
my grandfather was the Sarpanch.
Most of us here,
let's say a maximum of 80%- 90% of the people are from Haryana,
and a little percentage is from Marwad and Malwa,
and a few others from Rajasthan have also settled down here.
The reason behind coming to Kantabanji was also that this is
a very old railway zone
and railway station.
And... previously it was under... Nagpur...
Bengal railway zone,
under South India Railway zone.
After India got its independence, between 1947 to 1950,
we came from Rajasthan.
At that time, unemployment was at its height.
There was no cultivation,
There was no means of livelihood and they saw
that in this place existed prospects for business,
and based on that...
There is a place in Rajasthan called Shekhawati,
A lot of people from Shekhawati and Marwad, migrated to this region.
One reason behind migration from Haryana was that there were no business prospects,
and second was that... during the struggle for Independence,
the most
affected parts were those of North India.
Earlier, Kantabanji was flourishing with the jute business,
and the prices of jute were regulated from our shop only.
My grandfather was in the panchayat
and after that, my father also continued.
And since then,
on the day after Deepawali,
a gathering happens at our place,
and this tradition is continued.
About 50 or 60 years ago, the business of forest products was at its peak.
There were many rice mills which have now been shut down.
Even today, there are still numerous rice mills and cotton plants.
As per my information, whatever crop was being cultivated here,
there were no means to transport them.
Even the 'rajwadas' (royal people) were unable to sell the produce.
The Marwadi community emerged,
to encourage the cultivation and farming and they
managed to market their produce.
Back in our days,
the level of competition among
the people of Kantabanji was so high
that whatever produce came to the market,
because of internal competition, the yields fetched a good price.
And hence, all the produce within the distance of 200 kms poured in here for sale.
Most of the forests have been nationalised.
Government has set up corporations to deal with forest products.
And in that, which is trade-free
the people are still dealing with the forest products.
The local farmers and the tribals,
gather some products from the forest,
or perhaps they grow it on their fields,
and they sell their products to us.
We then channelise them to the market.
And the chain continues.
The farmers were happier back then as compared to now.
Most of the market goods are outdated now.
Farmers are now producing rice and cotton.
Many cotton mills have been set up and This kind of work has gained momentum.
In 1974, I started the business of oil cakes.
There are many oil mills here, and I collected oil cakes to sell them.
I started in 1974, and then gradually
tightened my grip on trading of oil cakes and rice bran.
After I came here, I started a very small business,
and as the business expanded,
I needed more manpower.
For that we called.... our fellow people
from there, and got them settled here.
While some got involved in our business, others
shifted to new business and they too established themselves.
Similarly, the family grew.
In the current state, our business is not predominant.
The local residents of this place,
have shifted to many other business
and
they have significantly contributed in the business.
Along with us, they are also excelling in their business.
We can notice one thing that
back then, we didn't give much attention to education.
For generations, we were engaged mostly in business.
And now... many children from our society and our community
are studying outside and they too are well established.
I would like to tell you that in Kantabanji,
there are about a 100,
or 50
chartered accountants, including both boys and girls.
There are engineers, MBA,
and even two IAS officers.
There is one IRS and some more youngsters are qualifying IAS and UPSC exams.
We too, in a way
are shifting to other streams...
towards education and jobs along with our business.
My younger brother is a chartered accountant, with an All India Rank
He is heading a leading company in Hyderabad and is the vice president there.
Simiarly, there are many chartered accountants from our place.
There are more than 100 chartered accountants.
There are a lot of IAS officers who are managing various districts in Odisha,
as District Magistrates,
and...
apart from that, there are a lot of engineers, a lot of entrepreneurs,
who run their own business and their own establishments.
they are progressing further.
My son is an MBA and a gold medalist.
He is a gold medalist from GITS college.
He has set up a mall
and it's called 'Muskan Mall'.
He is running a play school and is all set
to open a 'Muskan International School'.
I had worked abroad for a year.
And when I saw the movie 'Swadesh',
I was inspired.
A feeling ignited to do something for my land and my village.
I left my job and came back to my own land and now I am trying
to reform the village to the best.
That is the mark of the Marwari family,
they have done...
they have flourished their business
in the remotest place of India.
They have done at multiple places.
They have shared their experiences and it is commendable.
But now, people hesitate to continue this legacy.
From here,
the educated class of people,
work hard and thrive. They go to various countries of the world
and earn a good name for themselves.
They manifold their business, and this place is small.
I had set up a mall in Katabanji,
it is a small mall given the population of Katabanji and
here, people can get all the necessary commodities under one roof.
The prices are reasonable too.
Apart from this, we have also started a school
wherein we educate children.
The village had two major issues.
Duplicate products from abroad flooded the market
and there was no proper billing either.
For most of the people, Katabanji itself is as good as Bombay or Kolkata or Delhi.
They cannot move out of Katabanji, even for treatment.
For them, the biggest city they have seen is Katabanji,
because there are many small villages in the interior.
If they are getting my services here,
if I am able to serve them,
then they are really blessed.
This was the main reason for which I chose this place.
Some people, especially some politicians have spread the rumour: Marwaris are exploiters.
This notion is absolutely wrong.
The Marwaris have never exploited here.
In every village,
Marwaris have built ponds, temples
schools and other necessities,
and always served people.
We are originally, 100%,
from Odisha, we are the locals.
Whatever we earn, we invest here.
We work to develop this place,
and serve people by investing our money.
As far as I can recall,
I never felt that
I am a Marwari.
We adopted their lifestyle, food habits and lived just like the locals.
Because my great grandfather had migrated here,
all my other the grandfathers
too got married in Odisha itself.
The people here have whole-heartedly welcomed us.
We were always welcomed.
We go to Rajasthan only for tonsuring (Mundan) of our children.
I have visited only once. I have only one son and I went
for his tonsuring.
It is our custom that when a child is 3 or 5 years old,
we have to visit our native place for shaving off his hair.
We feel that the total revenue generation of Katabanji,
and the good collections from railways,
are far too sufficient to get Katabhaji the status of a district.
The infrastructure required for getting it this status is also available.
There are many government lenders.
The railways cover an area of 4500 acres which is highest in the zone.