the periphery of the town. MBA Degree College, Law College, Nursing College, Sri Ram College Kasinagar are a few of them. There are several primary, upper primary and high schools in the town. Some of the prominent schools are MRBH, MRGH, Mahendra Giri High School, Gandhi School, Apanna Paricha School, Goura Chandra School. Some of the prominent private schools are the Saraswati Sishu Mandir, Sri Arabinda Purnanga Sikhya Kendra, Priyadarshini Convent School, Sri Satya Sai School. The town also has a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya and a Kendriya Vidyalaya set-up by the ministry of HRD, Central Union Government. Civic administration The Paralakhemundi Municipality is in charge of the civic administration of the town. As the headquarters of the Gajapati district, it houses several district-level headquarters of government and private organizations. Economy Paralakhemundi is situated among the Eastern Ghats where there are vast plains and number of small streams and rivers. This has enabled cultivation as the chief source of income here. People cultivate mainly paddy (rice), which is grown twice-a-year in the fields, once during Kharif and once during Rabi seasons. However many farmers also cultivate cash crops like sugarcane, maize, and tobacco. Some even cultivate long term cash crops like mango plantations, cashew, banana, etc. The latest trend is that farmers are getting inclined to grow cotton in their fields, which apparently is more profitable to them. Apart from Cultivation and Industries related to cultivation like Rice Mills, Mango Pulp Factories, Cashew Factories, Rice Flake Industries, Sugar Mill, the town is poorly industrialized. However, some medium scale granite factories have been set-up in the surroundings of the town.The other source of income of the residents is through the Handicrafts that are made by them, which they are learning traditionally from generation to generation. The economy is sustainable but is not flourishing due to lack of industrialization and exposure to bigger markets. Transport Paralakhemundi is connected to other parts of Odisha by the State Highway 4 (SH-4) which connects Berhampur at one end and Rayagada on the other. The National Highway 326A passes through the village, which connects Mohana in Odisha with Narasannapeta of Andhra Pradesh. Parlakhemundi is connected to Naupada railway junction on the main East Coast railway line from Kolkata to Chennai by 90 km long (Gunpur to Naupada) 1676mm broad gauge line, that was converted from 762mm (2 ft 6 in) narrow gauge in 2010–11. The line was