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.

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Haryana Governor distributes scholarships to ITM University students

Haryana Governor Sri. Kaptan Singh Solanki distributes scholarships to meritorious and under-privileged students of ITM University, Gurgaon

•   Over 200 students were given scholarships amounting to Rs. 1.5 Crores

Gurgaon: In an atmosphere of solemnity and grandeur, His Excellency Governor of Harayana Prof. Kaptan Singh Solanki distributed scholarships to over 200 students of ITM University, Gurgaon to help financially and socially disadvantaged and meritorious students.

This scholarship has been instituted by the University to bring quality education within the reach of every student irrespective of their financial or social status.

Speaking at the occasion, the Governor, the Chief Guest at the Scholarship distribution ceremony, lauded the milestones achieved by ITM University in becoming one of the premier universities in India. He further went on to appreciate the service ITM University renders by awarding scholarships to the merited students and those from the weaker section of the society. He drew attention of all spectators on the tremendous progress made by the State of Haryana in the field of higher education.

“The University should further endeavour to achieve global bench marks in higher education and use emerging technology and pursue research to benefit the people, industry and the country at large,” he added while urging students to become good responsible citizens of this country besides being professionals.

The Pro-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Prem Vrat said, “ITM University holds the pride of one of the first private technical universities in Haryana and offers various undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes under the School of Engineering and Technology, School Management and School of Law. The University has achieved many distinctions over the years since it inception, through hard work, vision and unflinching commitment to excellence.”

The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. BS Panwar lauded the efforts of the student and asked other students to follow their suit. The fee concessions and scholarships amounted to over Rs 1.5 crore.

Earlier, the ITM University staff and students accorded a warm welcome to the honorable Governor. The campus was spruced up for the occasion with colours and flowers and patriotic fervor was created by the University Choir while singing National Anthem and Vande Matram.


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Shop Vegetables Online in Odisha

Image credit: orissadiary.com

The Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched a scheme allowing citizens to buy vegetables online through the e-commerce portal www.veggiekart.co.in , on Monday.

This is a joint venture of the state government and Veggie Kart Marketing Ltd that would make the marketing easier and online for the people in the state.

The portal accepts order for the vegetables and delivers the order at the door step, and accepts the cash from the consumer after the goods have been delivered, as reported in a media.

However, the online payment process has not be finalized, after that consumers can pay directly online to purchase the vegetables from the portal.

Apart from that the company has also rolled out 15 vegetable carts to sell vegetables.

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Mobiles for Odisha Farmers

The Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has distributed mobile phones to 5000 farmers on Tuesday. The distribution of mobiles to farmers was aimed to avail them the facility of getting information about cultivation.

The opposition has criticized the move of the state government. According to media reports, the farmers in the state could get sms over agriculture in their regional language, which would be make them aware about the cultivation techniques.

In the age of hi-tech, why the farmers of the Odisha state to stand behind and the measure to provide them mobile device should praised. It is noteworthy that the state was already having many mobile subscribers and the free distribution of mobile could make the figure go up further.

The state government has planned to distribute 20,000 mobile phones to farmers and those would be cost around Rs1,000 per device.

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BJD calls Odisha Bandh Today

Odisha bandh called by the ruling party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) effecting normal life in the state. However, the party has decided not to affect the essential services in the state while going for the bandh.

The strike was called opposing the central government and its apathetic look towards the state. In the morning, there were mixed reaction to the bandh  in various parts in the state.

In the capital, Bhubaneswar, the city bus plying affected leaving commuters at much hassles.  While it is reported that, a bit of relief for them as auto plying in the city was seen as routine.

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Odisha to introduce Online Auction of Liquor Shop Licenses

The state government of Odisha is planning to start online auction of annual liquor shop licenses, which believed to bring more transparency in the tendering process.

The government will run a pilot project in one district before implementing the new system of auctioning foreign and country licenses for wine shops in the state.

The government has been optimistic about the new project aiming that would also fetch good revenue revenue in the beverage business with having more transparency.

In excise sector, the state government has collected Rs 1,380 crore revenue in 2011-12.

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