Odisha Govt Launches Gramodaya Scheme Aimed At Welfare Of LWE-Affected Villages

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has launched Gramodaya, a new scheme to ensure that welfare programmes reach people living in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected districts.

The initiative will cover 583 villages spread across 10 LWE-affected districts of the state, an official said.

The notification for the initiative was issued by the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department on Tuesday, a day after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi made such an announcement at the meeting of the chief ministers of LWE-affected states chaired by Union Home minister Amit Shah at on Monday.

The initiative will be implemented in Bargarh, Balangir, Boudh, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Rayagada, sources added.

The objective of the programme is to converge all the departments of the state government which will work together to ensure effective development of the LWE hit areas.

There is no special budgetary allocation for the initiative as funds would come from departments earmarked for different schemes, the official added.

Odisha government has constituted a state-level monitoring committee chaired by the Chief Secretary to ensure proper implementation of the initiative.

The district level committee will be headed by collectors and consist of district-level officials. At the block level, the committee will consist of block-level officials and will be headed by the BDO, sources added.

Special awareness campaign, Gram Sabhas, grievance hearings and outreach activities will be made for the implementation of the programme at the grassroots level.