Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday announced a special package of Rs 1690.46 crores for the socially and economically weaker section people.
The package will benefit landless farmers, construction workers, urban poor, vulnerable tribal population, State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) beneficiaries, MGNREGA workers and Dibyang students.
Announcing the package, the Chief Minister said that the Covid-19 pandemic affected the economical condition of all sections of the society. However, the socially and economically weaker section people have been affected more due to the pandemic, he said.
The financial assistance announced during the first wave of Covid-19 has provided relief to the affected people. During the second wave of Covid-19, the State was under lockdown during the past two months due to which poor & daily labourers have been affected. Keeping this in mind, the state government has come up with this special package, the Chief Minister said.
He announced to provide special assistance of Rs 1,000 per beneficiary under the Kalia scheme. Over Rs 207 crores will be provided to 17.83 lakh landless farmers covered under the scheme in three instalments.
To provide livelihood support to the urban poor in all 114 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) till next December, the government has announced to allocate Rs 260 crores under Mukta Scheme.
The NREGS workers will get Chief Minister’s assistance of Rs 50 per day in addition to their daily wages for the period—April to June, 2021. The State Government will bear a cost of Rs 300 crores for providing the additional wages.
Similarly, Mr.Patnaik has announced to provide 5 kg rice on free of cost to the beneficiaries of the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS) during the period—July to November. It will cost Rs 92.86 crores to the Government.
There are 66,214 family members in 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) in the state. The government would provide Rs 5,000 per family for their livelihood support. An amount to the tune of Rs 33.10 crores will be spent in this regard. The money will be deposited directly into their bank accounts, Patnaik said.
Pre-matric scholarships will be provided to the SC and ST students during April to September in two phases. The scholarships amount will be deposited on the bank accounts of the parents of students. It will cost Rs 252.35 crores to the state exchequer.
The Chief Minister has also announced Rs 1,500 special assistance for each of the registered construction workers for which Rs 360 crores will be spent.
The Government will continue its Banishree scholarships for the Divyang students who are not studying in special schools. The students will be paid an amount ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 350 (depending on class) for three months (April to June). As many 26,465 Dibyang students will be benefited from this while Rs 3.62 crores will be spent for this purpose.
An amount of Rs 1,245 per month (for the period of April to June) will be provided to each of 6471 Special School students who are doing online study from home. A total of Rs 2.41 crore will be spent for this.
Besides, the Chief Minister has announced that non-residential students will be given a monthly stipend of Rs 360 for the period of April to June this year.
Rs 3.92 crore will be spent on this. Similarly, 36 non-residential students will be given a monthly grant of Rs 390 from April 21 to June 21. It is estimated to cost Rs 7.5 lakh.