BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has raised the monthly honorarium for the state’s Padma awardees from Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000. The honorarium for the Padma awardees in recognition of their strong contribution to the society was announced by the previous BJD government earlier this year.
A release from the chief minister’s office on Saturday stated that there are 55 living Padma awardees in the state who will benefit from it. The enhanced honorarium will cost the state exchequer Rs 2 crore per year.
Odisha has one Bharat Ratna VV Giri; four Padma Vibhushan - Sudarshan Sahoo, Raghunath Mohapatra, Sitakant Mahapatra and Kelucharan Mohapatra; 11 Padma Bhushan and 90 Padma Shri awardees. This year, four persons - Gopinath Swain, Binod Maharana, Bhagabat Pradhan and Binod Kumar Pasayat - were awarded the prestigious awards.
Odisha is not the first state to give honorarium to Padma awardees. While Haryana currently provides a monthly honorarium of Rs 10,000 to Padma awardees under Haryana Gaurav Samman Scheme for Padma Awardees, Telangana has announced Rs 25 lakh cash and monthly pension of Rs 25,000 for its awardees this year.