Bhubaneswar: Principal Secretary of Department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) Bishnupada Sethi has directed concerned District Collectors to provide benefits of various welfare schemes including newly launched Subhadra Yojana to the leprosy patients rehabilitated in Leprosy Colonies of the State.
Principal Secretary, SSEPD, Shri Sethi very recently held a meeting to review the progress achieved on various activities taken up in the Leprosy Colonies of the State as per the direction of the High Court of Orissa.
In Khurda district, the eligible inmates of the leprosy colonies have been included under different schemes like MBPY, NFSA and BSKY. The district administration is preparing a roadmap to ensure gainful employment for the CLPs living in the colonies under CSR initiatives. All the eligible beneficiaries are covered under the Subhadra Scheme as well as the NFSA through e-KYC, officials said.
During the virtual meeting, Balasore Collector was informed that with the help of Emami paper mills, they have conducted a big camp and provided MCR shoes to the inhabitants.
A producers’ group has also been formed in the district with the help of ORMAS. The group has started production and selling of Mushroom in the local market. He assured the committee to complete the construction of work shed for the Weaving Unit in a time-bound manner, they said.
In Jajpur district, there were some land issues on which the Gandhi Nagar Leprosy Colony is situated. Since the colony is located on forest land, the Jajpur district administration is facing difficulties to provide them with land and housing rights.
Principal Secretary Shri Sethi advised the District Collector to regularly engage with the inhabitants and counsel them for their relocation to the land patches identified by district administration and persuade the inhabitants since the number of inhabitants is low.
The land issues of the colony in Bargarh are now resolved and houses are being allotted in their favour. Officials informed that training for the inhabitants has been started for vegetable farming, mushroom cultivation and fishery.
With the help of ORMAS livelihood mapping in the colonies will be completed in a time-bound manner, they said.
The beneficiaries living in the colonies of Sundargarh district have also been covered under MBPY, NFSA and BSKY. The officials said that 185 LRCs have been provided to the inhabitants. Livelihood activities have also been taken up in the colonies for the rehabilitation and improvement of living conditions of the CLPs with the collaboration of OLM and ORMAS. RMC has been entrusted to ensure basic amenities and cleanliness in the colonies.
Similarly, the government has released Rs.1.19 crore for the construction of EWS houses for rehabilitation of (8) families of Sanjayjee Colony consisting of 27 members in Puri. But due to the opposition of the inhabitants living there, they are trying to relocate them to a new place.
Principal Secretary, SSEPD, Shri Sethi advised the Puri district administration to take up the same on fast-track basis and start the construction at the earliest.
The officials stated that 66 families have been issued LRC in the Jharsuguda Municipality area and 30 houses are under construction over the land. The interested beneficiaries have also been covered under different livelihood activities.
There are some land related problems in construction of Leprosy Colonies in Mayurbhanj district.
It was advised during the meeting that overall livelihood activities of the CLPs can only be improved if the Department of Mission Shakti, Odisha Livelihood Mission, Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS) are converged.
Shri Sethi acknowledged the saturation of the social security pension, ration cards and health cards among the Leprosy Cured Persons living in the colonies and urged the district administrations for resolving the persisting land issues.