Odisha CM directs to implement schemes for SC, ST people with dedication

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday directed the SC and ST Development officials to ensure that the schemes and programmes are implemented promptly with passion and dedication.

Holding a review meeting here, he expressed his displeasure over the tardy progress in construction of hostels for ST and SC students.

He said, out of a total of 2850 hostels sanctioned by the government to provide boarding facilities to the students, only 2020 have been completed so far.

At ITDA mtg, directed completion of SC/ST hostels by Mar31 & ensure 100% social security scheme coverage among PVTGs pic.twitter.com/Af1QrwYniC

— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) January 27, 2016

Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Rayagada, Sundergarh, Nuapada and Nabarangpur districts have not adhered to the timeline for completion of the remaining hostels. The officials should ensure construction of these hostels by March 31 this year, said the Chief Minister.

Informing that the state government has launched a new scheme ‘Anwesha’ last year to provide quality education to ST and SC students, the Chief Minister asked the department to give specific targets to each district and monitor its implementation regularly.

Patnaik said the state government has sanctioned 3000 posts of matrons and 336 posts of ANMs for the safety of student boarders in hostels and directed to fill up these posts within a definite time frame.

The Chief Minister also said that there is a need to dispose of all the pending claims under the Forest Rights Act in a time-bound manner.

The districts like Mayurbhanj, Sundergarh, Rayagada, Nuapada and Koraput need to improve their performance as a large number of claims are pending for disposal in these districts, he pointed out.

The Chief Minister said that the ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups’ (PVTGs) need special attention and added that the state government is committed to providing 100% coverage of pension, housing and other social security schemes for the welfare of the PVTG households.