BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government has decided to bring three ordinances soon to bolster agri-economy of the state with a focus on more job creation in rural areas.
A decision was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday.
The Chief Minister emphasised on wider implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and increase activities of Mission Shakti to create job opportunities for the large number of migrants who are returning home every day.
The Chief Minister, who reviewed the Covid-19 situation by video conference, asked secretaries of different departments to prepare plans to create more opportunities for gainful employment of the returnees. He announced that more funds will be provided to strengthen the rural economy. As Rabi crop season has started, the supply of seeds, fertiliser and farm equipments to the farmers has commenced.
A helpline has been launched to assist farmers to resolve their problems. There has also been noticeable progress in pisciculture, dairy farming and horticulture activities as government opened these sectors to kickstart the economy during the lockdown period.
It was decided that labour intensive work would be given primacy in the coming days.
Activities have been started in this regard by the Water Resources, Rural Development, Works and Forest departments, official sources said and added that a decision was taken to engage one lakh, persons, in plantation activities during the next one month.
The Chief Minister said that there is a need to strengthen the Panchayati raj institutions further and involve them in Covid management. He said that training should be imparted to inmates of temporary medical centres (TMCs) in Covid management so that they can work as volunteers after coming out of quarantine. He directed the authorities to prepare a certificate course to provide training to inmates of the quarantine centres in Covid management.
He underscored the need for increasing the number of beds in Covid care centres in Ganjam, Balasore, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Balangir districts. Chief Secretary Asit Kumar Tripathy, Director General of Police Abhay and senior officials participated in the meeting.