ThenewNationalDemocraticAlliance(NDA)governmentsenttheredraftedSeparateChhattisgarhBillfortheapprovaloftheMadhyaPradesh

Assembly,whereitwasonceagainunanimouslyapprovedandthenitwastabledintheLokSabha.ThisbillforaseparateChhattisgarhwas
passedintheLokSabhaandtheRajyaSabha,pavingthewayforthecreationofaseparatestateofChhattisgarh.ThePresidentofIndiagavehis
consenttotheMadhyaPradeshReorganisationAct2000onAugust25,2000.TheGovernmentofIndiasubsequentlysetNovember1,2000,as
thedaythestateofMadhyaPradeshwouldbedividedintoChhattisgarhandMadhyaPradesh.[22]

Governanceandadministration
TheStateLegislativeassemblyiscomposedof90membersoftheLegislativeAssembly.Thereare11membersoftheLokSabhafrom
Chhattisgarh.TheRajyaSabhahasfivemembersfromthestate.

Districts
Chhattisgarhstateconsistsof27districtsand5divisions:[23][24][25][26][27]
BastarDivision
Bastar
(Jagdalpur)
Bijapur
Sukma
Dantewada
(Dakshin
Bastar)
Kondagaon
Narayanpur
Kanker(Uttar
Bastar)

DurgDivision

Kawardha
(Kabirdham)[28][29]
Rajnandgaon
Balod
Durg
Bemetara

RaipurDivision

Dhamtari
Gariyaband
Raipur
BalodaBazar
Mahasamund

Majorcities

Bilaspur
Division

Bilaspur
Mungeli
Korba
Janjgir
Champa
Raigarh

SurgujaDivision

Koriya
Surajpur
Surguja
(Ambikapur)
Balrampur
Jashpur

DistrictsofChhattisgarhstatein
2007

Raipur
Bilaspur
Durg
Bhilai
Rajnandgaon
Chirmiri
Mahasamund
Dhamtari
Raigarh
Ambikapur
Jagdalpur
Korba
Champa
Kanker
Pakhanjore
seeListofcitiesinChhattisgarh

HumanDevelopmentIndicators(HDIs)
HDI
Asof2011ChhattisgarhstatehadaHumanDevelopmentIndexvalueof0.358,thelowestofanyIndianstate.Thenationalaverageis0.467
accordingto2011IndianNHDRreport.[31]

Standardofliving
ChhattisgarhhasoneoftheloweststandardoflivinginIndiaaspertheIncomeIndex(0.127)alongwiththestatesofAssam,Bihar,Jharkhand,
MadhyaPradesh,OdishaandRajasthan.Thesestateshaveincomesbelowthenationalaverage,withBiharhavingthelowestincomepercapita.
Thesepoorstates,despitelowabsoluteincomes,havewitnessedhighNetStateDomesticProduct(NSDP)growthratesespeciallyBihar,
Chhattisgarh,OdishaandUttarakhandwhichhadgrowthratesabove10percentperannumduringtheTenthFiveYearPlanperiod(20027).

EducationIndex
ChhattisgarhhasanEducationIndexof0.526accordingto2011NHDRwhichishigherthanthatofstateslikeBihar,Jharkhand,UttarPradesh,
Rajasthanwhicharebelowthe0.5mark.Though,itislowerthanthenationalaverageof0.563.

Withrespecttoliteracy,thestatefaredjustbelowthenationalaverage.TherecentestimatesfromCensus(2011)alsodepictasimilarpicture
withtheliteracyrateof71percent(81.4%Males&60.5%Females),whichisclosetotheallIndia
literacyrateof74percent.
AccordingtoNSS(20078),theliteracyrateforScheduledTribes(STs)andScheduledCastes(SCs)
wasbetterthanthecorrespondingnationalaverageandthisisapositivesign.
Amongthemarginalizedgroups,STsareatthebottomoftherankings,furtheremphasizingthelackof
socialdevelopmentinthestate.BastarandDantewadainsouthChhattisgarharethemostilliterate
districtsandthedropoutratioisthehighestamongallthedistricts.Thereasonforthisistheextreme
povertyinruralareas.

SchoolchildreninChhattisgarh

HealthIndex
HealthIndexofChhattisgarhislessthan0.49,oneofthelowestinthecountry.TheHealthIndexisdefinedintermsoflifeexpectancyatbirth
sinceahigherlifeexpectancyatbirthreflectsbetterhealthoutcomesforanindividual.
Despitedifferenthealthrelatedschemesandprogrammes,thehealthindicatorssuchaspercentageofwomenwithBMI<18.5,UnderFive
MortalityRateandunderweightchildrenarepoor.Thismaybeduetothedifficultyinaccessingtheremoteareasinthestate.Theprevalenceof
femalemalnutritioninChhattisgarhishigherthanthenationalaveragehalfoftheSTfemalesaremalnourished.TheperformanceofSCsisa
littlebetterthanthecorrespondingnationalandstateaverage.TheUnderFiveMortalityRateamongSTsissignificantlyhigherthanthenational
average.ThepercentageofunderweightchildreninChhattisgarhisalsohigherthanthenationalaverage,furtherunderliningtheappalling
healthconditionofthestatespopulation.

Netstatedomesticproduct(NSDP)
ChhattisgarhisoneoftheemergingstateswithrelativelyhighgrowthratesofNSDP(8.2%vs.7.1%AllIndiaover20022008)andpercapita
NSDP(6.2%vs.5.4%AllIndiaover20022008).Thegrowthratesofthesaidparametersareabovethenationalaveragesandthusitappearsthat
Chhattisgarhiscatchingupwithotherstatesinthisrespect.However,thestatestillhasverylowlevelsofpercapitaincomeascomparedtothe
otherstates.

Urbanisation
Thedemographicprofileshowsthatabout80percentofthetotalpopulationlivedinruralareas.

Sexratio
Thereare1,30,32,895(morethan1.28crore)malesand1,29,12,303(morethan1.27crore)femalesinChhattisgarhwhichis2.11percentofthe
countrystotalpopulation.ThesexratiointhestateisoneofthebestinIndiawith991femalesper1,000males,asisthechildsexratiowith
964femalesper1,000males(Census2011)

Fertilityrate
Chhattisgarhhasafairlyhighfertilityrate(3.1)ascomparedtoAllIndia(2.6)andthereplacementrate(2.1).Ithasruralfertilityrateof3.2and
urbanfertilityrateof2.1.

SCandSTpopulation
Withtheexceptionofthehillystatesofthenortheast,ChhattisgarhhasoneofhighestsharesofScheduledTribe(ST)populationswithinastate,
accountingforabout10percentoftheSTsinIndia.ScheduledCastesandSTstogetherconstitutemorethan50percentofthestates
population.ThetribalsareanimportantpartofthestatepopulationandmainlyinhabitthedenseforestsofBastarandotherdistrictsofsouth
Chhattisgarh.TheScheduledCaste(SC)populationofChhattisgarhis2,418,722asper2001censusconstituting11.6percentofthetotal
population(20,833,803).TheproportionofScheduledCasteshasincreasedfrom11.6percentin2001to12.8%in2011.Thepercentage
increaseinthepopulationofthescheduledlistoftribalsduringthe20012011decadehadbeenattherateof18.23percent.Theshareofthe
tribalpopulationintheentirestatehadbeen30.62percentwhichwas31.76percentduring2001.

Poverty
TheincidenceofpovertyinChhattisgarhisveryhigh.Theestimatedpovertyratioin20045basedonuniformreferenceperiodconsumption
wasaround50percent,whichisapproximatelydoubletheallIndialevel.Theincidenceofpovertyintheruralandurbanareasisalmostthe
same.
MorethanhalfoftheruralSTsandurbanSCsarepoor.Ingeneral,theproportionofpoorSCandSThouseholdsinthestateishigherthanthe
stateaverageandtheircommunitysrespectivenationalaverages(exceptforruralSChouseholds).Giventhatmorethan50percentofthe
statespopulationcomprisesSTsandSCs,thehighincidenceofincomepovertyamongthemisamatterofseriousconcerninthestate.
Thisindicatesthatthegoodeconomicperformanceinrecentyearshasnotpercolatedtothissociallydeprivedgroup,whichisreflectedintheir
poorperformanceinhumandevelopmentindicators.

Accesstodrinkingwater

Intermsofaccesstoimproveddrinkingwatersources,attheaggregatelevel,ChhattisgarhfaredbetterthanthenationalaverageandtheSCsof
thestateperformedbetterthanthecorrespondingnationalaverage.ScheduledTribesaremarginallybelowthestateaverage,butstillbetterthan
theSTsattheallIndialevel.
Theproportionofhouseholdswithaccesstoimprovedsourcesofdrinkingwaterin20089was91percent.Thisproportionwasover90per
centeveninstateslikeBihar,Chhattisgarh,MadhyaPradeshandUttarPradesh.Thiswaslargelybecausethesestateshadover70percentof
theirhouseholdsaccessingtubewells/handpumpsassourcesofdrinkingwater.

Sanitation
Sanitationfacilitiesinthestateareabysmallylowwithonlyabout27percenthavingtoiletfacilities,whichisfarbelowtheallIndiaaverageof
44%.[32][33]TheSTsarethemostdeprivedsectioninthisregardwithonly18percentoftheSThouseholdshavingtoiletfacilities,whichis
lowerthantheallIndiaaverageforSTs.TheSCsalsohavealowerproportionofhouseholdswithtoilet
facilitiesascomparedtotheallIndiaaverage.
Stateswithlowsanitationcoveragein2001thatimprovedcoverageby410%pointsare[Chhattisgarh],
Odisha,Bihar,Jharkhand,MadhyaPradesh,RajasthanandUttarPradesh.HimachalPradesh,Damanand
Diu,Haryana,Sikkim,Punjab,DadraandNagarHaveli,GoaandUttarakhandregisteredincreased
coveragebymorethan20percentagepoints.[32]

Teledensity
Acrossstates,ithasbeenfoundthatteledensity(telephonedensity)wasbelow10percentin2010for
ChhattisgarhandJharkhand,reflectingalackofaccesstotelephonesintheserelativelypoorerstates.On
theotherhand,forstateslikeDelhiandHimachalPradeshandmetropolitancitieslikeKolkata,Mumbai
andChennai,teledensitywasover100percentin2010implyingthatindividualshavemorethanone
telephoneconnection.

Roaddensity

TenduPatta(Leaf)collectionin
Chhattisgarh,India.

Theroadlengthper100km2waslessthanthenationalaverageof81km(81,000m)per100km2in
Chhattisgarh.TheruralareasofChhattisgarhfailedtomeettheirtargetsofconstructingnewroadsunderthePradhanMantriGramSadak
Yojana(PMGSY)plan.[34]

Demographics
Chhattisgarhisprimarilyaruralstatewithonly20%ofitspopulation(around5,1millionpeoplein2011)residing
inurbanareas.AccordingtoareportbythegovernmentofIndia,[37]atleast34%areScheduledTribes,12%are
ScheduledCastesandover50%belongtotheofficiallistofOtherBackwardClasses.Theplainsarenumerically
dominatedbycastessuchasTeli,SatnamiandKurmiwhileforestareasaremainlyoccupiedbytribessuchas
Gond,Halbi,HalbaandKamar/BujiaandOraon.AlargecommunityofBengalishasexistedinmajorcitiessince
thetimesoftheBritishRaj.Theyareassociatedwitheducation,industryandservices.

Religion
Accordingtothe2011census,the93.2%ofChhattisgarh'spopulationpracticedHinduism,while2%followed
Islam,1%followedChritianityandsmallernumberfollowedBuddhism,Sikhism,Jainismorotherreligions.[38]
Sarnaismistheindigenousreligionfollowedbytheindigenoustribesofthestate.

PopulationGrowth
Census

Pop.

1951

7,457,000

1961

9,154,000

22.8%

1971

11,637,000 27.1%

1981

14,010,000 20.4%

1991

17,615,000 25.7%

2001

20,834,000 18.3%

2011

25,540,198 22.6%

Source:CensusofIndia[35][36]

Language
TheofficiallanguageofthestateisHindiandisusedbynonruralpopulationofthestate.Chhattisgarhi,adialectofHindilanguage,isspoken
andunderstoodbythemajorityofpeopleinChhattisgarh.Amongotherlanguages,OdiaiswidelyspokenbyasignificantnumberofOdia
populationintheeasternpartofthestate.Telugu,MarathiisalsospokeninpartsofChhattishgarh.
Chhattisgarhiwasknownas"Khaltahi"tothesurroundinghillpeopleandas"Laria"toOdiaspeakers.

Statusofwomen
Chhattisgarhhasahighfemalemalesexratio(991)[39]rankingatthe5thpositionamongotherstatesofIndia.Althoughthisratioissmall
comparedtootherstates,itisuniqueinIndiabecauseChhattisgarhisthe10thlargeststateinIndia.
Thegenderratio(numberoffemalesper1000males)hasbeensteadilydecliningover20thcenturyinChhattisgarh.Butitisconspicuousthat
Chhattisgarhalwayshadabetterfemaletomaleratiocomparedwithnationalaverage.
Year
India

1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011
972 964 955 950 945 946 941 930 934 927 933 940

Chhattisgarh 1046 1039 1041 1043 1032 1024 1008 998 998 985 989 991

Probably,suchsocialcompositionalsoresultsinsomecustomsandculturalpracticesthatseemuniqueto
Chhattisgarh:TheregionalvariantsarecommoninIndia'sdiverseculturalpattern.
Ruralwomen,althoughpoor,areindependent,betterorganized,sociallyoutspoken.[40]Accordingtoanother
localcustom,womencanchoosetoterminateamarriagerelationshipthroughacustomcalledchudi
pahanana,ifshedesires.Mostoftheoldtemplesandshrinesherearerelatedto'womenpower'(e.g.,
Shabari,Mahamaya,Danteshwari)andtheexistenceofthesetemplesgivesinsightintohistoricaland
currentsocialfabricofthisstate.However,amentionoftheseprogressivelocalcustomsinnowaysuggests
thattheideologyoffemalesubserviencedoesnotexistinChhattisgarh.Onthecontrary,themaleauthority
anddominanceisseenquiteclearlyinthesocialandculturallife.
Detailedinformationonaspectsofwomen'sstatusinChhattisgarhcanbefoundin'Asituationalanalysisof
womenandgirlsinChhattisgarh'(http://ncw.nic.in/pdfReports/Gender_Profile_Chhattisgarh.pdf)prepared
in2004bytheNationalCommissionofWomen,astatutorybodybelongingtogovernmentofIndia.

ReligioninState(2011)[38]
Hinduism(93.2%)

Witchcraft
Inordertobringaboutsocialreformsandwithaviewtodiscourageundesirablesocialpractices,
ChhattisgarhgovernmenthasenactedtheChhattisgarhTonhiAtyachar(Niwaran)Act,2005against
witchery.[41]Muchhastobedoneontheissueoflawenforcementbyjudicialauthoritiestoprotectwomen
inthisregard,bringingsuchpersecutiontoanend.[42]
SomesectionsoftribalpopulationofChhattisgarhstatebelieveinwitchcraft.[42]Womenarebelievedto
haveaccesstosupernaturalforcesandareaccusedofbeingwitches(tonhi)oftentosettlepersonalscores.

Islam(2.01%)
Christianity(1%)
Sikhism(0.27%)
Buddhism(0.27%)
Jainism(0.24%)
Sarnaismornotreligious
(3.01%)

Asof2010,theyarestillhoundedoutofvillagesonthebasisofflimsyaccusationsbymalevillage
sorcererspaidtodosobyvillagerswithpersonalagendas,suchaspropertyandgoodsacquisition.[42]
AccordingtoNationalGeographicChannelsinvestigations,thoseaccusedarefortunateiftheyareonly
verballybulliedandshunnedorexiledfromtheirvillage.

Culture
ThestatehostsmanyreligioussectssuchasSatnamiPanth,Kabirpanth,RamnamiSamajandothers.
Champaran(Chhattisgarh)isasmalltownwithreligioussignificanceasthebirthplaceoftheSaint
Vallabhacharya,increasinglyimportantasapilgrimagesitefortheGujaraticommunity.
ChhattisgarhhasasignificantroleinthelifeoflordRama.LordRamaalongwithhiswifeSitaandhis
youngerbrotherLakshamanhadstartedhisVanvas(exile)intheBastarregion(moreprecisely
Dandakaranyaregion)ofChhattisgarh.Theylivedmorethan10yearsoftheir14yearsofVanvasin
differentplacesofChhattisgarh.OneoftheremarkableplaceisShivrinarayanwhichisnearbyBilaspur
districtofChhattisgarh.ShivrinarayanwasnamedafteranoldladyShabari.WhenRamvisitedShabari
shesaid"Idonothaveanythingtoofferotherthanmyheart,butherearesomeberryfruits.Mayitplease
you,myLord."Sayingso,ShabariofferedthefruitsshehadmeticulouslycollectedtoRama.When
Ramawastastingthem,LakshmanaraisedtheconcernthatShabarihadalreadytastedthemandtherefore
unworthyofeating.TothisRamasaidthatofthemanytypesoffoodhehadtasted,"nothingcouldequal
theseberryfruits,offeredwithsuchdevotion.Youtastethem,thenalonewillyouknow.Whomsoever
offersafruit,leaf,flowerorsomewaterwithlove,Ipartakeitwithgreatjoy."

Adivasiwomanandchild

YoungwomeninChhattisgarh

TheOdiacultureisprominentintheeasternpartsofChhattisgarhborderingOdisha.

Literature
Chhattisgarhisastorehouseofliterature,performingartsandcraftsallofwhichderivesitssubstance
andsustenancefromthedaytodaylifeexperiencesofitspeople.Religion,mythology,socialand
politicalevents,natureandfolklorearefavouritemotifs.Traditionalcraftsincludepainting,
woodcarving,bellmetalcraft,bamboowareandtribaljewellery.Chhattisgarhhasarichliteraryheritage
withrootsthatliedeepinthesociologicalandhistoricalmovementsoftheregion.Itsliteraturereflects
theregionalconsciousnessandtheevolutionofanidentitydistinctfromothersinCentralIndia.

SocialMissionAgainstBlindFaith

Crafts
Chhattisgarhisknownfor"Kosasilk"and"lostwaxart".Besidessarisandsalwarsuits,thefabricisused
tocreatelehengas,stoles,shawlsandmenswearincludingjackets,shirts,achkansandsherwanis.Works
bytheinternationallyrenownedsculptor,SushilSakhuja'sDhokraNandi,areavailableatgovernment's
Shabarihandicraftsemporium,Raipur.

Dance
Panthi,RawatNacha,Pandwani,Chaitra,Kaksar,SailaandSoowaaretheseveralindigenousdance
stylesofChhattisgarh.

AdivasiWomanatFarasgaonMarket

Panthi
Panthi,thefolkdanceoftheSatnamicommunity,hasreligiousovertones.PanthiisperformedonMaghi
Purnima,theanniversaryofthebirthofGuruGhasidas.Thedancersdancearoundajaitkhambsetupfor
theoccasion,tosongseulogizingtheirspiritualhead.Thesongsreflectaviewofnirvana,conveyingthe
spiritoftheirguru'srenunciationandtheteachingsofsaintpoetslikeKabir,RamdasandDadu.Dancers
withbenttorsosandswingingarmsdance,carriedawaybytheirdevotion.Astherhythmquickens,they
performacrobaticsandformhumanpyramids.[43]
Pandwani
PandavaniisafolkballadformperformedpredominantlyinChhattisgarh.Itdepictsthestoryofthe
Pandavas,theleadingcharactersintheepicMahabharata.TheartistsinthePandavaninarrationconsist
ofaleadartistandsomesupportingsingersandmusicians.Therearetwostylesofnarrationin
Pandavani,VedamatiandKapalik.IntheVedamatistyletheleadartistnarratesinasimplemannerby
sittingonthefloorthroughouttheperformance.TheKaplikstyleislivelier,wherethenarratoractually
enactsthescenesandcharacters.[44]

NativesofKamarTribe

RautNacha
RautNacha,thefolkdanceofcowherds,isatraditionaldanceofYaduvanshis(clanofYadu)assymbol
ofworshiptoKrishnafromthe4thdayofDiwali(GoverdhanPuja)tillthetimeofDevUthaniEkadashi
(dayofawakeningofthegodsafterabriefrest)whichisthe11thdayafterDiwaliaccordingtothe
Hinducalendar.ThedancecloselyresemblesKrishna'sdancewiththegopis(milkmaids).[45][46]
InBilaspur,theRautNachMahotsavfolkdancefestivalisorganizedannuallysince1978.Tensof
hundredsofRauttdancersfromremoteareasparticipate.[47]
SoowaNacha
SoowaorSuwatribaldanceinChhattisgarhisalsoknownasParrotDance.Itisasymbolicformof
dancingrelatedtoworship.Dancerskeepaparrotinabamboopotandformacirclearoundit.Then
performerssinganddance,movingarounditwithclapping.Thisisoneofthemaindanceformoftribal
womenofChhattisgarh.[48]

Acarvinginthe10thor11th
centuryHindutempleofMalhar
village.Thisarea,40kmfrom
Bilaspur,wassupposedlyamajor
Buddhistcenterinancienttimes.

Karma
TribalgroupslikeGonds,theBaigasandtheOraonsinChhattisgarhhaveKarmadanceaspartoftheir
culture.Bothmenandwomenarrangethemselvesintworowsandfollowtherhythmicsteps,directedby
thesingergroup.TheKarmatribaldancemarkstheendoftherainyseasonandtheadventofspring
season.[49][50]

FestivalsofChhattisgarh
BastarDussehra/DurgaPuja
BastarLokotsav
MadaiFestival
RajimKumbhMela
PakhanjoreMela(NaraNarayanMela)
BhoramdeoFestival
GonchaFestival
TeejaFestival
ChamparanMela
NarayanpurMela
Pola
Hareli
FirstfruitFestival
EarthFestival
ChakradharSamaroh
DantewadaFair
RamaramFair
MaBambleshwariFair
RatanpurFair
ShivrinarayanFair
SihawaFair
GirodhpuriFair
DamakhedaFair
SirpurFestival
[51]

Pandwani

RautNacha

SuaNachaatKhudmudiVillage,
Chhattisgarh