BHUBANESWAR:The State Government has decided to provide around Rs 1000 crore for all-round development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in next two years. The fund will be utilised for their housing and livelihood requirement through convergence of various ongoing programmes and projects.
As the focus will be on the housing and livelihood needs of the PVTGs, the Odisha Tribal Development Society (OTDS) has been directed to sign Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with different societies and corporations under Government departments for convergence of different schemes. The schemes run by different departments overlap causing delay in their implementation.
Besides, the State Government has asked the OTDS and the ST and SC Research Institute to work out specific action plan for taking up schemes for housing and livelihood of the vulnerable tribal groups. There are around 20,000 PVTGs in 543 villages of 20 blocks in 12 districts of the State.
The OTDS has been formed with prime objectives of providing support for planning, implementation and monitoring of tribal development programmes. Providing technical support to the departments and taking up capacity building activities for the stakeholders are other key objectives of the society.
However, meetings of the society are never held regularly. The State Government has decided that the society meetings should be held at least once in six months. OTDS has taken up Focused Area Development Plan (FADP) for supporting ST families with viable livelihood options. Around 13 specific land and non-land based livelihood focus areas have been identified.
The OTDS has taken up schemes under horticulture, coffee, rubber and commercial vegetable cultivation, improved agriculture, micro enterprise, non-timber forest produce collection and marketing, farm mechanisation, poultry farming, goat rearing, placement linked skill development, tribal handicraft and handloom.
Official sources said these schemes are being implemented in Champua, Koraput, Jeypore, Rayagada, Gunupur, Thuamul Rampur, Baliguda, Phulbani, Nabarangpur, Sundargarh, Panposh, Bonai, Baripada, Kaptipada, Karanjia, Rairangpur, Paralakhemuni, Malkangiri, Nilgiri, Kuchinda and Keonjhar.
It has been decided that the OTDS will sign MoUs with MGNREGA society, National Rural Livelihoods Mission, Odisha Livelihoods Mission, National Horticulture Mission, Watershed Mission and Forest Development Corporation for convergence of housing schemes like Biju Pucca Ghar and Indira Awas Yojana (IAY).