Odisha Govt Spent Rs 798.07 Cr Under ‘Nua O’ Programme; Will There Be A Special Audit?

Bhubaneswar: A total expenditure of Rs 798.07 crore was incurred by the Odisha government under ‘Nua O’ programme launched in the state in 2023-24, the state Assembly was informed on Monday.

Answering a question in the House, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said that ‘Nua O’ programme was primarily started by the Higher Education and Sports & Youth Services department.

As per information provided by the Higher Education department, Noa-O Scholarship was launched in February 2024. A total of Rs 536.44 crore was spent in providing scholarship to 5.38 lakh undergraduate and postgraduate students in 2023-24, he said.

Of the total amount, Rs 222.80 crore was borne by the Higher Education department, while the rest Rs 313.64 crore was made available from the Planning and Coordination department.

Similarly, Rs 261.63 crore was made available from Sports and Youth Services department through the Integrated youth Development Programme, Majhi said.

He said a special audit of the expenditure incurred under Nua O programme may be conducted by the AG, if required.

To another query, the Chief Minister said an amount of Rs 15.80 crore was spent on the exposure visit to Dubai by representatives of Mission Shakti and other departments of the government.

To a query on the state’s debt burden, the CM quoted preliminary information from the AG and said the total debt burden of the state stood at Rs 96,310.40 crore at the end of 2023-24 fiscal. Per capital debt burden stood at Rs 20,736 which is much lower than that in other states as well as the Centre, Majhi added.