Roadside Panthanivas to be named 'Jajabar'

The State Government on Wednesday informed the Assembly that many of the 81 Panthikas, Panthasalas and Panthanivases are in a weak state and hence it has decided to operate them in PPP mode. “Due to dearth of skilled employees and required infrastructure, it has been decided that four Panthanivases and 35 Panthikas/Panthasalas would be managed in PPP mode,” Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Panda said, adding that these units are incurring losses continuously.

Informing that only four Panthanivases and six Panthikas/Panthasalas of the units proposed for PPP mode are now operating, the Minister said these units would be operationalised considering their business viability. Only 11 out of 20 Panthanivases are running with profit, he said. Panda said the Panthanivas located on roadsides would be named as ‘Jajabar’ and the Panthikas/Panthasalas located in interior areas would be named as ‘Aranya Nivas’ henceforth. However, he informed that the OTDC has made a profit of Rs 3 crore by the third quarter of the current fiscal. The Minister was replying to a question by Jacob Pradhan and additional queries by others.