BHUBANESWAR : The State government has decided to restructure the Odisha Excise Service cadre with creation of 304 more regular posts increasing the strength to 2,210 from 1,906 at different levels. A proposal to this effect was approved at the meeting of the State Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The proposal included introduction of direct recruitment at the level of deputy superintendent of excise to the extent of 40 per cent of the total sanctioned strength.
Two new excise districts, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela, will also be carved out from the existing Khurda and Sundargarh districts due to large areas under their jurisdiction. Besides, five new excise police stations at Tihidi, Baliapal, Bhuban, Begunia and Sundargarh will be created to strengthen excise administration. The office of Excise Commissioner, Odisha will henceforth function as a directorate. It will be carved out from the existing Board of Revenue with own cadre management and staffing pattern.
The proposal of OPTCL to develop the required power infrastructure at Paradip to meet the demand of the proposed Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) was also approved by the Cabinet. The OPTCL has proposed to construct a high voltage gas insulated sub-station (GIS) at Paradip along with associated lines with an estimated cost of Rs 637.5 crore. This includes 30 pc equity from Odisha government of Rs 191.23 crore.
The balance amount of Rs 446.21 crore will be met by OPTCL through loan from banks and financial institutions. Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra said the project to be completed in three years will cater to the power demand of the upcoming industries in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara districts and industries linked to Haridaspur-Paradip railway line.
The Cabinet approved a proposal to provide a corpus fund of Rs 100 crore for Odisha State Seeds Corporation Ltd to be utilised for production and procurement of seeds and quality planting materials. It will help in increasing production and productivity of different crops to benefit the farmers, he said. Besides, a decision was taken to create a corpus fund of Rs 100 crore for pre-positioning of fertiliser in the State by Odisha State Cooperative Marketing Federation and Odisha Agro Industries Ltd.
Interest-free loans will be sanctioned by the Agriculture department to these two organisations for fertiliser operations for nine months and refunded back to the government within the stipulated period. The Cabinet also approved the amendment of Odisha Lokayukta Act, 2014 to allow reappointment and further employment of chairpersons and members of Lokayukta after demitting office. A proposal to lease 25 decimal of land in Samalpur and Bamapada villages in Remunal tehsil of Balasore district for establishment of satellite centre of AIIMS-Bhubaneswar was also approved.
Other Proposals
Corpus fund of Rs 100 crore for Odisha State Seeds Corporation Ltd
Rs 100 crore corpus fund for pre-positioning of fertiliser in the State
Amendment of Odisha Lokayukta Act to allow reappointment of chairpersons and members