BHUBANESWAR : Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday announced a Special Covid assistance package of Rs 1,690.46 crore for socially and economically backward people of the State. The package will benefit landless farmers, construction workers, urban poor, particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme besides, the differently-abled students.
According to the package, all 17.83 lakh landless farmers, beneficiaries under the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme will be provided a special assistance of Rs 1,000 each. Families of all the landless farmers will get Rs 207 crore assistance in three phases.
The Chief Minister announced that all poor people residing in 114 urban local bodies (ULBs) will be provided income generating work worth Rs 260 crore till December, 2021 under Mukhyamantri Karma Tatpara Abhiyan (MUKTA) scheme. Similarly, workers engaged under the MGNREGS will be provided Rs 50 each besides their regular wages. The State government will spend an additional Rs 300 crore for workers who were engaged between April 21 and June 21 this year. The Chief Minister’s Office claimed that six crore mandays were created under the MGNREGS during the period.
The Chief Minister also announced that 5 kg rice will be provided free of cost to beneficiaries covered under the NFSA from July to November, 2021 and the State government will spend Rs 92.86 crore for the purpose. To help PVTGs during the pandemic, Rs 5,000 each will be provided to the families. Currently, the population of 13 PVTGs in Odisha is 66,214 families.
Stating that the government will spend Rs 33.10 crore under the initiative, the Chief Minister said that the money will be deposited in their bank accounts. Similarly, pre-matric scholarship of Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste students between April and September will be deposited in the bank accounts of their parents in two phases. The initiative will cost the State exchequer Rs 252.35 crore and benefit 5.4 lakh students.
CM announces Rs 1,690 cr Covid package for poor
Similarly, all the registered construction workers will be provided Rs 1,500 each for which Rs 360 crore will be spent. The Chief Minister said differently-abled students not studying in special schools will continue to get Banishree scholarship under which they will be provided Rs 200 to Rs 350 each (according to their class). This will benefit 26,465 students, he said, adding that Rs 3.62 crore will be spent on this. The Chief Minister also announced assistance for differently-abled students of special schools now studying online.