Bhubaneswar: Development Commissioner Anu Garg has focused on expediting World Bank funded Externally Aided Project (EAP) which is aimed at protecting the poor and vulnerable households from the impact of economic and climate shocks in Odisha.
This would be possible by managing disaster-risks, and facilitating better use of digital data for resilience, service delivery and planning, said she
Chairing the Wrap up Meeting with World Bank Mission Team on Externally Aided Project(EAP)-Odisha State Capability and Resilient Growth was held at Lok Seva Bhawan, Shrimati Garg she advised for timely project implementation.
Principal Secretary Finance, Vishal Dev presented details on the WB-EAP.
Among others Principal Secretary, Electronics & IT, other Senior Officers from Finance Department and Officials from World Bank Mission Team were present in the meeting.
Government of India have signed this agreement with the World Bank on 14 July 2023. Approximate cost of the project is 1183 Crore and the State Government counterpart funding is Rs.367 Crore. OSCRGP has been declared effective from 11 August 2023 by the World Bank. The State Cabinet has approved this project on 27 December 2022.
This EAP will augment government effort in three areas like Increasing Coverage and Scale-up of an Adaptive Social Protection System, Disaster Risk Management Planning and Programmes through the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA), R&DM Department, Electronics & IT Department and Better Data Quality through Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES). An Independent Verification Agent (IVA) will assess the results achieved by the relevant line agencies.
The different component of the project include: (i) Development and Implementation of Social Protection Delivery Platform (SPDP) (ii) State Data Policy guidelines and documentation for future roll out and adoption and (iii) Strengthening resilience through deployment of early warning dissemination technology systems, and expanded citizen outreach.
Strengthening Statistical Systems for Better Planning and Resilience , Improving digital access and management of data for evidence based policy making and planning, Implementation of computer assisted survey technology (CAPI) were discussed in the meeting.
Strengthening disaster-related impact forecasting systems for improved response and coverage of early warnings alerts, Population covered (percent) by risk-informed Gram Panchayat Disaster Management Plans (GPDMP) that are integrated with development programs at the GP levels, Enhancing disaster risk management and disaster education capabilities through skilled human resource and facilities were also discussed in detail.
The activities to be carried out for the year 2023-24 were discussed with participation of World Bank Mission Team. The team shall meet different stakeholder in connection with implementation of the Project.
