Bhubaneswar: The State Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday approved at least 16 proposals, including implementation of the second component of Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augumentation (KALIA).
The second component of the KALIA will provide livelihood support to landless agricultural households for livestock and horticultural crop based activities to further accelerate agricultural prosperity.
Initially, the scheme was meant for farmers. Under the scheme, in the first phase of money transfer, Rs 5000 was sent to the accounts of more than 12.45 lakh farmers out of the nearly 50 lakh beneficiaries. The farmers will get Rs 5000 each in the next four instalments, two each for Kharif and Rabi crops, on Akshaya Tritiya and Nuakhai, the two major agrarian festivals in the State. This money will be used by farmers to buy fertilisers, seeds, pesticides and other items related to farming.
The Cabinet also approved Secretariat Data Entry Operators Amendment Rules 2019 to ensure promotional avenues for them. Assistant Data Processing Officer and Data Processing Officer have been created abolishing vacant posts of Senior Data Entry Operators.
The Cabinet also cleared initiatives to bolster delivery of healthcare services to the remotest parts of Odisha through SAMMPURNA. Budgetary allocation has been enhanced and procedures approved for setting up hospitals across the State in public private partnership (PPP) mode.
Months before the simultaneous polls, the State Cabinet also gave its nod to five rural drinking water projects and a road project worth more than Rs 3000 crore that would benefit 15 lakh people in various districts in the State.
The Cabinet also gave its nod for upgradation of Bhubaneswar-based ASBM to University Status and Odisha Handicrafts Policy. A bill for upgradation of ASBM to university will be tabled in the Assembly.
