Post and telegraphic communications in colonial Odisha- A critical analysis”, International Journal of Development Research

Transport system and means of communication is the backbone of progress of a nation. The economic prosperity, social welfare and political strength of a nation largely depends on the type of transport and communication it has. Healthy communication system of a state opens up new vistas for economic activity and socio-cultural interaction, which ultimately puts an end to the stagnation and isolation. Colonial Odisha was lamentably very backward in matter of transport and communication. When Odisha was visited by a famine of most intense and desolating character in 1866, its severity became very terrible because of the lack of the communication facilities. The Famine Commission remarked that “Odisha was shut up between pathless jungles and an impracticable sea”. Much care have been taken to reveal the truth behind the backwardness and under development of communication and transport system of Colonial Odisha and for its remedies in this paper.