BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has spent a whopping Rs 100.93 crore on different activities of the Biju Yuva Vahini (BYV) during 2018-19, Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Tushar Kanti Behera informed the Assembly on Friday.
Replying to a question from Mohan Majhi (BJP), the Minister said that sports equipment worth over Rs 39 crore were distributed to different BYV units in panchayats and urban areas while under ‘Mo Hero’ programme, Rs 19.35 crore was spent during the year.
Behera said that nearly Rs 18 crore was spent for organising youth congregations in different parts of the State. He said Rs 22.95 crore was utilised for different social service works undertaken by the BYV during the year. Besides, Rs 3 crore was also spent for different organisational matters.
Regarded as one of the largest youth engagement programmes in India and the only of its kind, BYV was launched as a sub-scheme, which was introduced by the Department of Sports and Youth Services (DSYS) with Cabinet approval on March 14, 2018. The aim was to channelise the immense energy of the youth of Odisha towards nation building by inspiring volunteerism and active participation of the youth in various social action projects and community engagement activities.
About 8,000 BYV units have been formed across all the 6,799 Gram Panchayats and 114 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the State. Members of the Yuva Vahini are encouraged to take up different social service works. Persons in the age-group of 15 to 35 years are taken in as Yuva Vahini members.