The poll promises of the ruling BJD were reiterated in the entire 27-minute address during the opening day of the first Session of the State Assembly by Governor Dr SC Jamir on Thursday.
Among others, he stressed on employment generation, rural connectivity, agriculture management, construction of pucca houses to all and a clean Government.
Outlining the new programmes and schemes, Jamir announced that the Government would launch two new schemes the ‘Chief Minister’s Employment Generation Scheme (CEGS)’ to upgrade skills of youth in every Panchayat and the ‘Chief Minister’s Sadak Yojana’ to provide road connectivity to all villages. Besides, the Government would ensure access for all to power and pipe water in rural areas, he said.
The Governor said that the State Government will implement the CEGS to prepare a vast majority of the youths get jobs annually. The new scheme will upgrade the skills of at least 150 youths from every Gram Panchayat who will be linked to loan and subsidies, he said, adding the ‘Odisha Youth Innovation Fund (OYIF)’ will be created to incubate new business ideas for young entrepreneurs.
The recruitment in the Government and all other fields shall be scaled up and recruitment of local talents will be given priority in all industrial projects in the State, he said.Stating that the State Government will move from a need based to rights based governance and delivery system, Jamir said that the ‘Odisha State Transparency Council’, an independent body, would be set up to ensure transparency in tendering and overseeing quality works.
Similarly, the ‘Right to Service Authority’ will be created outside the State Government to monitor and implement the Right to Service Act, while the scope of the law would be expanded to cover more services.
The Governor further said all villages having a population of 1,000 or more will be converted into Gram Panchayats in a phased manner and united funds will be available to the Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samities and Zilla Parsishads with a view to boost local planning.
Assuring a prosperous, progressive and peaceful Odisha, the Governor said that the State Government had given stress on strengthening primary infrastructure needs to ensure that lack of access to infrastructure does not become a barrier to growth and well-being of the people of the State. In this direction, the State Government will fulfil in a time bound manner the primary infrastructure needs in the areas of road communication, drinking water, electrification, irrigation, agriculture and education in both rural and urban areas, he said.
Pointing out that input management holds the key to sustained agriculture productivity improvement and overall development, Jamir said that the State Government has envisioned to create an additional irrigation potential for 10 lakh hectares in the next five years, besides making available in every Panchayat high quality seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides and required agricultural technical extension services. To streamline the post-harvest management practices, he said the Government has decided to set up mandi, concrete drying platforms and threshing floors
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Guv outlines new schemes for all
for every 5,000 population in all procurement districts.
Besides, the Governor said that a comprehensive Warehousing Act will be legislated to create storage infrastructure in every Panchayat and subsidy based cold storage facilities in PPP mode in all blocks. He also announced that for the development agriculture and farming community, the State Government had decided to exempt tax on trolleys attached to tractors.
The Governor said the Government would take steps to convert all kutcha houses into pucca houses in a phased manner by providing suitable financial assistance to the beneficiaries.In order to ensure a healthy Odisha, the Governor said that the State Government would provide medicines free of cost through the Odisha Medical Corporation to the poor and needy and added that health insurance coverage would become universal covering every section of society both in rural and urban areas.
Stating that his Government is committed to the welfare of the women in the State, Jamir said the Government would very soon formulate a “Holistic Women Policy” shortly to bridge the remaining gaps in holistic socio and economic empowerment. To further scale up the interventions aimed at empowerment of women, he said that the Government would endeavour to bring down the interest against loans to women SHGs within one year.
Besides, to provide shelter to the daily-wage labourers, the Government would frame a policy for their rehabilitation in the urban areas with the formation of the ‘Slum Rehabilitation Board’ and introduce a comprehensive “Urban Slum Dwellers Rehabilitation Policy” to ensure basic amenities to the inhabitants. For the unorganized workers, the Government has also plans for formation of a Welfare Board, he said.
Highlighting the future plans for development in education, the Governor said that for enhancing quality education, the Government would establish Model Public Schools in every block and ensure to plug the infrastructure gaps in Panchyat High Schools.
“My Government has plans for construction of express highways that would run through the undivided Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput (KBK) district to foster socio-economic development in the backward and Maoist-prone districts,” Jamir pointed out.
He also said that to safeguard the future of the orphan and helpless children, the Government would come up with a new scheme, Biju Bal Vikash Yojana.The Governor, reiterating the Central neglect historically to Odisha, said, “Our fight for Special Category Status (SCS) with emphasis on Odia Swabhiman shall be intensified in the coming years till this legitimate demand is acceded to by the Central Government.” An Odia language University will be established to facilitate all- round development of State’s languages, the Governor said.