Bhubaneswar, Feb 16 (PTI) Ahead of the upcoming polls for the Lok Sabha and Odisha assembly, the state government on Friday decided to provide financial assistance of Rs 1,000 each to the 70 lakh members of the self-help groups (SHG) for uniforms.
An amount of Rs 2,000 each will also be given to 1.5 lakh SHG leaders for purchasing blazers, an official said.
Proposals in this regard were approved at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
According to the decision, the state government will spend Rs 730 crore for the purpose.
“The Cabinet has approved financial assistance towards provisioning of uniforms for all 70 lakh SHG members across the state and more than 1.5 lakh Executive Committee members of Gram Panchayat Level Federations,Block Level Federations & District Level Federations and Management Committee members of Area Level Federations under urban local bodies with a budgetary allocation of Rs 730 crore during the 2023-24,” Chief Secretary P K Jena said after the cabinet meeting.
Jena said that the financial assistance to all Mission Shakti SHG members will be provided to purchase uniform of choice as per their groups’ decision.
While approving the proposal, Patnaik maintained that Mission Shakti has evolved to empower women and redefine their societal roles, transforming SHGs into formidable forces driving economic growth and social change. The Mission Shakti has become a vibrant women empowerment model in the country.
“The state government’s commitment to women’s empowerment via Mission Shakti has boosted their entry into sunrise sectors, fostering economic independence”, said department secretary Sujata R Karthikeyan.
She said that investments in SHG infrastructure and innovative convergence models among state departments have bolstered women’s entrepreneurial efforts.
The Cabinet also approved the implementation of the new ‘NUA-O Scholarship’ scheme for students of undergraduate and post-graduate courses.
Under the scholarship, students across the state in state universities, government and non-government aided colleges including aided Sanskrit colleges and unaided private colleges taking admission through the Student Academic Management System (SAMS), a portal for admission, to get Rs 9,000 (boys) to Rs 10,000 (girls) per annum, the chief secretary told reporters.
Jena said the SC/ST students and children of construction workers pursuing UG/PG will get scholarships at higher rates of 10,000 and 11,000 for male and female students respectively.
The scheme entails a total outlay of Rs 3701.08 crores over 5 years from 2023-24 to 2027-28.
The Cabinet also gave its nod to a proposal to recruit accountant-cum-data entry operators for all gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and districts in the state.
The state government will create as many as 7,142 accountants–cum-data entry operators for all 6,794 gram panchayats, 314 panchayat Samitis and 30 districts in Odisha, Jena said. PTI AAM AAM NN
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