BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has sanctioned Rs 1,551.32 crore under the Special Problem Fund (SPF) for the development of essential infrastructure in the state in the last six months as compared to Rs 300 crore in the last fiscal.Of the 12,233 projects sanctioned under the scheme in 2023-24 till September 25, 10,415 projects worth Rs 654.57 crore are general in nature and 1,818 projects worth Rs 896.75 crore are educational.
An analysis of the regions bagging the projects under SPF, also known as CM special assistance, revealed coastal Odisha districts have the lion’s share and the maximum number of projects as compared to the tribal-dominated districts. The highest Rs 156.22 crore for 1,476 projects has been allotted to Ganjam, followed by Rs 102.58 crore for 795 projects to Cuttack, Rs 94.51 crore for 698 projects to Jajpur, Rs 94.23 crore for 490 projects to Khurda, Rs 91.69 crore for 766 projects to Balasore and Rs 80.78 crore for 698 projects to Puri.
The lowest Rs 12.55 crore for 95 projects has been sanctioned to Nabarangpur, Rs 17 crore for 41 projects to Sundargarh, Rs 17.08 crore for 218 projects to Boudh, Rs 17.38 crore for 201 projects to Deogarh, Rs 21.45 crore for 13 projects to Koraput, Rs 21.66 crore for 233 projects in Sonepur, Rs 22.95 crore for 149 projects to Nuapada and Rs 25.10 crore for 98 projects in Malkangiri.
Among the districts, Jharsuguda, Nabarangpur and Koraput have been sanctioned only one, three and seven educational projects respectively while Ganjam has got a maximum of 157 educational projects worth Rs 64.22 crore. Balasore, Jajpur, Khurda and Cuttack have been allotted 136, 127, 108 and 100 educational projects.
The SPF aims at taking up small projects of local importance involving a special nature of problems in the absence of which the development process will remain incomplete. The guideline mandates works that would provide missing links to the existing development infrastructure as well as repair, modernisation and expansion for the purpose of improvement of existing educational institutions both government as well as private, roads, culverts, bridges, embankments, public religious places and cultural organisations to be taken up under the scheme.