The State Government on Wednesday approved an additional outlay of Rs 1,000 crore to the Augmentation of Basic Amenities and Development of Heritage and Architecture (ABADHA) programme.

This was one of the 15 proposals cleared by the State Cabinet which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

In 2019, the Government had allocated Rs 3,208 crore for ABADHA for three years to transform Puri into a world heritage city. Now, the amount is increased to Rs 4,224.22 crore.

The Cabinet also approved implementation of the MMSY-Connecting Unconnected Villages in Difficult areas for two years from 2023-24 to 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 976 crore. The Cabinet approved execution of projects with a length of 361.34 km targeted to be taken up in 2023-24 & 2024-25.

The Cabinet also approved the MMSY-Transferred Road Improvement Programme for two years from 2023-24 to 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 1,893 crore. It approved execution of projects with a length of 1814.92 km in 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Implementation of MMSY- Improvement to Existing R.D Roads was also approved for two years from 2023-24 to 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 918 crore. Moreover, "MMSY- Connecting Missing Road Links (CMRL)" was approved for two years with an outlay of Rs 1,160 crore.

The Cabinet also approved a projected outlay of Rs 3,354.40 crore for the Mukhyamantri Sampoorna Pushti Yojana (MSPY). The yojana is aimed at transforming nutrition outcomes of adolescent girls (15-19 years), pregnant women and lactating mothers, SAM, MAM, and severely underweight children of under six years over a period of five years commencing from 2023-24.

Moreover, the cabinet also gave its nod to recommended inclusion of Saora language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.