(the goddess of Manikya), the clan deity of the Naga kings of Kalahandi may have also necessitated the adoption of the name. After Indian independence in 1947, Kalahandi joined India on 1 January 1948. On 1 November 1949, Patna Balangir district and Subarnapur district together constituted a separate district and the Nuapada sub-division of Sambalpur was added to the Kalahandi district. In 1967, Kashipur block of Kalahandi district was transferred to Rayagada division for administrative purpose. In 1993, Raja Ravi Gupta along with his siblings and prajaa reinvented Nuapada. Nuapada sub-division was carved out as a separate district, but Kalahandi (Lok Sabha constituency) continues to constitute present Kalahandi district and Nuapada district together. Post-independence Kalahandi Syndrome Kalahandi hit the headlines in newspapers for the repeated drought situation that has broken the economic backbone of the cultivators. A long history of drought covering more than a century in Kalahandi has occurred. Drought had occurred in Kalahandi in 1868, 1884 and 1897. The famine of 1899 is otherwise known as "Chhapan Salar Durbhikshya". The effect of the famine, according to the District Gazetteers, were of a magnitude unprecedented in any previous famine. This famine left a terrible socio-economic gloom in this area. In 1819–1820, another drought occurred followed by cholera, influenza and malnutrition due to lack of foodstuff. A series of droughts in 1822–1823, 1825–1826, 1829–1830, 1854–1855 and 1855–56 occurred in Kalahandi. The terrible drought of 1865–66, which occurred in Kalahandi, totally broke down the economic backbone of the people. Due to lack of rain, three-fourths of the crop production failed. The effect of the drought continued to be felt in 1967. As regards this drought, the following description from the District Gazetteers is worth quoting. "The bulk of the population which constituted the landless agricultural labourers became unemployed due to suspension of all sorts of agricultural operations. The worst sufferers were the landed gentry, who, because of the drought, could not reap a harvest nor could they take to manual labour to which they were not accustomed. The pastures lost the greenery and the bovine population therefore was equally starved. Everywhere there was an acute shortage of water." Again in 1974–75 and in 1985 drought occurred like the Human Census occurring once in ten years. After the severe drought of 1956 and 1966, the rich cultivators of this area came down to the status of middle class cultivators and the middle