Nuapada district is located in the western part of Odisha. It lies between 200 N and 210 5’ latitude and 820 40’ E longitude. The boundaries of Nuapada extend in the north, west and south to Raipur District of Chattishgarh state and in the east to Bargarh, Balangir and Kalahandi districts of Odisha. This district is spread over an area of 3,852 sq km. The administrative headquarters of the district is located at Nuapada town. The district of Nuapada was a part of undivided Kalahandi district till early March 1993. For administrative convenience, Kalahandi district was divided into two parts i.e. Kalahandi and Nuapada vide State Government Notification No. DRC-44/93/14218/R. dated 27 March 1993. Present Nuapada district comprises of one sub-division (Nuapada), five tahsils (Nuapada, Khariar, Komna, Boden and Sinapali) and five blocks (Khariar, Sinapalli, Boden, Nuapada and Komna).
Nuapada district was created on 1st April 1993 by carving out of the undivided Kalahandi district, with land area of 3,852 sq km. It consists of 670 revenue villages having a population of 6,10,382 as per 2011 census. The total number of rural households in the district is 1,44,299. There are 131 Gram Panchayats, 3 NACs and 10 police stations in the district. The total Scheduled Caste (SC) population of the district is 82,159 and Scheduled Tribe (ST) population is 2,06,327, which comprise of 13.46% and 33.80% of the total population respectively.
The plains of Nuapada subdivision fringed by rugged hill ranges, stretch southward which belong to the main line of the Eastern Ghats and contains extensive plateaus of about 4000 ft (1200 m) in elevation with long tropical grass grown over them. It contains mineral deposits such as laterite, graphite and bauxite. The hill sides rising up precipitously from the plains are covered with dense Sal forests. There are other forest species such as Teak and Bamboo. All these are situated in the dry deciduous forest zone. Timber is by far the major forest product and Sal wood is a major constituent of these products. Other important woody tree species of Nuapada forests, are Bija, Asan and Bandhan. There are so many ancient monuments & heritage places such as Yogeswar Temple Patora, Dadhi Baman Temple, Buddhikomna Pataleswari Temple, Jogi Matha Risgaon, Patal Ganga Boden, Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary, Godhas & Beniadhas Waterfall, Saliha Smruti Stambha, Upka Ganga etc.
There are some other minor forest products of this region which include Kendu leaf, wild broom grass, Mahua flower, Mahua seed, Antia bark and Sabai grass. Timber, bamboo and Kendu leaf are major products exported to other states.
In Nuapada district, there are 10,570 women SHGs comprising of 1,09,650 members. There are five Block Level Federations (BLF) in 5 blocks. Women SHGs are involved in different socioeconomic activities such as social messaging, PDS distribution, meter reading, mushroom cultivation. pisciculture, agriculture, paddy procurement, preparation & supply of MDM, supply of hospital diets, routine maintenance of rural roads, supply of pre-school & primary school uniforms, preparation of THR (Take Home Ration) etc. Several SHGs have participated in National & State Level Pallishree Mela and Exhibitions showcasing and selling their products. A women SHG called Jai Hanuman Mahila Committee was awarded the ‘Best Women Entrepreneur’ award at the World Food Exhibition Programme in New Delhi in 2017-18.
