Odisha cabinet approves ‘Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha’ scheme

Bhubaneswar: Ahead of 2024 general and state Assembly elections, the Odisha cabinet headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday decided to implement ‘Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha’ programme with effect from the financial year 2023-24.

The cabinet has decided to modify the existing ‘Ama Gaon Ama Bikash’ programme by giving it a new dimension in the form of ‘Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha’ under state plan for taking up measures to augment rural infrastructure leading to accelerated growth as well as to promote, preserve and protect Jagannath culture and tradition of the state, said Energy Minister Pratap Keshari Deb.

The vision of the intervention is to transform Odisha to modern and aspirational Odisha retaining the essence, soul and spirit of Jagannath culture and spreading it to the world, he said.

The main objective of the scheme is to provide missing links to the existing small and essential projects and development of infrastructure. Also achieving empowerment of women, youth, bridging critical gaps in education, digital and sports facilities, Deb said.

The scheme will help in the improvement of infrastructure for primary education and also provide missing links to the existing development infrastructure, construction, modernization and expansion works.

Through this scheme, the government is also eying to create additional facilities for Mission Shakti Groups at panchayat level, providing banking facilities and improvement of digital access in terms of mobile connectivity, optical fibre connectivity, WiFi and internet connectivity in the rural areas.

There is budget provision of Rs. 4000 crore under the scheme from the state budget. The scheme will cover all Gram Panchayats in each block of the state with entitlement of Rs. 50 lakh, he said.

The Minister informed that projects, whose cost is between Rs. 2.50 lakh to Rs.10.00 lakh, and recommended by local people, would be undertaken under the new scheme.

The Odisha cabinet has also recommended the proposal for inclusion of Kui language in the 8th schedule of Constitution of India, Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena said.

Further, the state government has decided to implement the Chief Minister’s Power Development Programme (CMPDP) to address low voltage issues in rural areas. With an outlay of Rs 1284.49 crore, the scheme will be executed by power distribution companies during the financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25, he said.