Odisha Chief Secy: Meet the Housing and Livelihood of Tribal Groups

Meet the housing and livelihood need of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups ( PVTGs) through convergence of various ongoing programmes and projects directed Chief Secretary Sri Gokul Chandra Pati. Chief Secretary gave this direction while presiding over Governing Council Meeting of the Odisha Tribal Development Society ( OTDS) held in secretariat conference hall today wherein Director ST welfare Sri Raghu Prasad Dash presented issues for discussion. 

The Society has also been asked to prepare draft MOUs to be signed with various societies and corporations operating under different departments for convergence and collaboration targeting investment of around Rs.1000 cr during coming two years. Director Scheduled Tribe & Scheduled Caste Research Institute Dr A.B. Hota present in the meeting said that there are around 20,000 PVTGs spread over 20 blocks of 12 districts. They are living in near about 542 habitations. Chief Secretary Sri Pati has directed the Society and the ST & SC research Institute to work out specific action plan for saturating the housing and livelihood need of these vulnerable tribal groups. It may be pertinent to mention here that OTDS has been formed with prime objectives of providing support for planning, implementation and monitoring of tribal development programmes. Providing technical support to the departments and taking up capacity building activities for the stakeholders are other key objectives of the society. 

Chief Secretary Sri Pati has directed to convene the meeting of the society in each 6 month and plan out interventions necessary with feed back from the field. In the meanwhile, the OTDS has taken up Focused Area Development Plan ( FADP) for supporting ST families with viable livelihood options. Around 13 specific land and non-land based livelihood focus areas have been identified. The major ones include wadi- agro horticulture, coffee cultivation, rubber cultivation, commercial vegetable cultivation, improved agriculture, micro enterprise, NTFP collection & marketing, farm mechanization, poultry farming, goat rearing, placement linked skill development, tribal handicraft & handloom. These programmes are being implemented in Champua, Koraput, Jeypore, Rayagada, Gunupur, Th.Rampur, Baliguda, Phulbani, Nabarangpur, Sundargarh, Panposh, Bonai, Baripada, Kaptipada, Karanjia, Rairangpur, Paralakhemuni, Malkangiri, Nilagiri, Kuchinda and Keonjhar areas. The programmes are being implemented with the support of Facilitating Non Govt Organizations. 

Chief Secretary has directed to prepare an estimate of around Rs1000 cr. to be invested in augmenting these activities and for providing assistance for house construction. The society has been advised to entre in to agreement with MGNREGA society, NRLM, Odisha Livelihood Mission, ORMAS, National Horticulture Mission, Watershed Mission, Forest Development Corporation etc and to dovetail funds from various housing schemes like Biju Pucca Ghar , IAY etc. The Director, Sri Dash has been asked to prepare these MOUs within a month. Development Commissioner Sri U.N.Behera, Additional Chief Secretary Finance Sri R. Balkrishnan, Principal Secretary Agriculture Sri Rajesh Verma, Secretary Panchayati Raj Sri D.K. Singh, Secretary Fisheries & Animal Resource Development Sri Bishnupada Sethi along with senior officers from concerned departments participated in the discussion.