BHUBANESWAR: The Government has decided to provide rice to poor left out (PLO) families in 19 backward districts of the State from its own resources.
A decision to this effect was taken at a high level meeting presided by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the Secretariat here. The decision will benefit 6,23,528 families not included in Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Antadayo Anna Yojana (AAY) schemes.
As the Food Security Act will be implemented in the State from September, 2015, the Centre has stopped additional quota of rice for PLO scheme from 2015-16. The State Government has decided to provide rice to the PLOs in April from surplus quota of rice from the 2014-15 financial year.
Besides, the Government has decided to provide rice to PLOs from May to August from the State pool. A provision of `53.59 crore has been made for this.
Australian Envoy Meets Naveen
Australian High Commissioner Patrick Suckling on Tuesday met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat here.
According to a release issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), bilateral cooperation between Australia and Odisha in mining, agriculture and education sectors was discussed at the meeting.