Odisha announces Covid package worth Rs 1,690 crore for financially weaker sections
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Bhubaneswar, June 18: With the aim to assist the families which were affected by the covid lockdown, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced financial relief of Rs 1,690.46 crore for economically and socially weaker sections of people in the state.
Announcing the financial package, Naveen Patnaik said," The two-month-long lockdown during the second wave of the pandemic has broken the backbone of the poor people, who have been worst affected from the financial point of view. The government has come up with this aid to provide some relief."
He added that "the package will provide benefit to Landless farmers, construction workers, indigenous groups, the urban poor, SC and ST, NREGA workers, and students." Under the package, registered construction workers will get an additional Rs 1,500 each, while MGNREGA workers will receive Rs 50more per day besides their regular wages.
According to 17.83 lakh landless farmers, beneficiaries under the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme will be provided special assistance of Rs 1,000 each. Families of all the landless farmers will get Rs 207 crore assistance in three phases. Moreover, food security beneficiaries will get additional 5 kg rice under the NFSA from July to November 2021 and the State government will spend Rs 92.86 crore for the purpose.
The Chief Minister announced that all poor people residing in 114 urban local bodies (ULBs) will be provided income-generating work worth Rs 260 crore till December 2021 under Mukhyamantri Karma Tatpara Abhiyan (MUKTA) scheme. To help PVTGs during the pandemic, Rs 5,000 each will be provided to the families. Currently, the population of 13 PVTGs in Odisha is 66,214 families.
Around 5.5 lakh students of SC/ST schools will get the pre-matric scholarship from April to September in two phases. An amount of Rs 252.35 crore will be spent on it. As many as 26,465 differently-abled students of special schools will get scholarships in the range of Rs 200- Rs 350.