Govt Plans Community Centres For Tribals Across Odisha & Residential Facilities In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government has proposed to construct multi-purpose community centres across the state and urban residential programmes in and around Bhubaneswar for tribal people.

Reviewing various programmes and schemes of his department on Thursday, Minister of ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Nityananda Gond told the officials to go for the new scheme for accommodation and food for the tribal family members and students.

The Minister also asked the officials to draw up a 100-day action plan and a vision document to take the reach of the department to a new-level.

Instructing them to identify young people to be voice of the deprived in taking various livelihood programmes to grassroots, he called for inclusion of Class XI and XII students under the ANWESHA scheme to provide quality English medium education.

He stressed the need for more hostel facilities for SC and OBC boys and girls across the state through state schemes as they were still facing difficulties while availing higher education. He also emphasised on the Aadhar inclusion of the PVTG groups as Odisha is home to 64 tribal communities and 13 Primitive Tribal Groups.

“In order to provide the tribal people an economic boost, the Department should make provision for minor forest produce (MFP) procurement at gram panchayat level and make the GPs serve as procurement units,” he said.

The Minister suggested to make the Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jati Abhyuday Yojna (PM-AJAY) more people-centric and organise district level meeting and awareness programmes at panchayat level.

Stating that timely disbursal of agricultural inputs must be ensured for livelihood schemes like Mukhya Mantri Janajati Jeevika Mission, he asked the senior officials to include more and more PVTG groups under state schemes and Pradhan Mantri Janajati Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN).

He said the unused government buildings (both under State and Centre jurisdiction) was wastage of the public exchequer and advised to map such structures and use those for the hostel purposes of the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities.

Praising the Koraput Coffee as a unique tribal product from Odisha, which is gaining world-wide
praise from the connoisseurs of quality and organic coffee, the Minister directed for up-scaling the product so that the tribal groups involved in the processing and cultivation would benefit.

The Minister was briefed by secretary Roopa Roshan Sahoo and other senior officials on various schemes, programmes, initiatives and activities undertaken by the department.