Odisha Govt To Repay TDCCOL Loan

Bhubaneswar: The state cabinet on Friday approved the decision of the Odisha government to repay the loan of the Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation of Odisha Ltd (TDCCOL), amounting to Rs 36.39 crore.

Briefing mediapersons after the cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat here in the evening, chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said that the TDCCOL, which was established in 1967 for social and economic development of tribal communities of the state, undertakes procurement, value addition and marketing support to tribal communities for minor forest produce (MFP) and surplus agriculture produces (SAP) at the price fixed by the government from time to time.

The state government provides working capital loan to TDCCOL for carrying out these activities.

However, on account of decentralisation and procurement of mahua flower, the corporation during 1991 sustained heavy losses to the tune of Rs 10.65 crore. In the long run, it has incurred accumulated loss of Rs 52.78 crore as on March 31, 2015, due to heavy interest burden on these loans.

While the corporation repaid Rs 14.34 crore, the remaining government loan, pertaining to mahua flower trade along with the accrued interest totalling to Rs 36.39 crore will be converted into equities and share capital investment of the state government.

“This will enable the corporation to have a positive net worth and carry out various activities for the tribal communities to value addition and provide marketing support for MFP and SAP,” he pointed out.

The chief secretary also said that the cabinet approved a proposal of the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department for the restructuring of Geologist cadre of Rural Water Supply & Sanitation (RWS&S).

“The state, which is committed to provide safe and sustainable drinking water to the entire population through the piped water, has a complex geological terrain having chronic water quality and scarcity issues.  It is also challenging to provide safe drinking water in the mining and remote areas. To address these issues through improved scientific input for exploration, monitoring, development and maintenance of water sources as well as implementation of different recharge methods for sustainability, the state government has decided to restructure the geologist cadre of Rural Water Supply & Sanitation (RWS&S),” he added.

Under the new structure, the base level posts has been upgraded from Class-II (Group-B) to Class-I (JB) (Group-A) and the promotional hierarchy with appropriate pay band as per 7th Pay Commission introduced in order to attract meritorious and talented candidates. After restructuring, the cadre strength has been raised from 19 to 39, he said.

Apart from this, the cabinet also approved a proposal for restructuring of Geologist Service cadre under the Directorate of Ground Water Development.

Under the new proposal, the entry level post of Geologist would be upgraded from Group-B to Group-A (Junior Branch). The existing five posts of senior Geologist shall be re-designated as deputy director (Geology). In this process of restructuring, eight additional posts of Geologists Group-A (JB), three additional posts of deputy director (Geology)  Group-A with three new divisions, two new posts of joint director (Geology), Group-A with two new circles and one new post of additional director (Geology) will be created. With this, the total strength of the Geologist cadre of GWD has been enhanced from 34 to 48.

The existing Odisha Ground Water Geologists Service Rules, 2007, will be amended accordingly to fill up different categories of posts, Padhi informed.

He also said that the cabinet approved the framing of the Odisha Horticulture Service (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Amendment Rules, 2018.

A  good number of Horticulture overseers/demonstration assistants represented for deleting the word  “+2 Science or equivalent qualifications” from clause(c) of Rule-5(2) of Odisha Horticulture Service (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2014 as all the officers except two Horticulture Overseers are not having +2  Science or equivalent qualifications.

The proposed amendment of deleting +2 Science or equivalent qualifications will increase the promotional avenue of Horticulture Overseers/demonstration assistants, which provide better extension of services, Padhi added.

He further said that the proposed amendment of Odisha Fisheries Service Group-A and B (Recruitment & Conditions of Service) Rules, 2013 approved by the cabinet will not only facilitate the promotional avenues of the Odisha Fisheries Service Group-A and B officers but also enhance competitiveness in the process of recruitment of Assistant Fisheries Officer conducted by Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) as a result of which better candidates will join the Assistant Fisheries Officer cadre which will bring efficiency in the implementation of various schemes of  the state government.

To keep pace with the changing needs and improve the delivery mechanism for implementation of welfare activities for ST, SC, Minority and Backward classes, the state cabinet approved a proposal for restructuring the Odisha Subordinate Welfare Service (OSWS) and Odisha Welfare Service (OWS) cadres.

Over the last two decades, there has been a manifold increase in the residential schools and hostels managed by the department.

There is a need to strengthen the Micro Project Agencies, which are managing the programmes for the PVTG communities. The State Level institutional structures also need strengthening by bringing in with more officers of the Odisha Welfare Service, who have field experience in managing educational institutions, scholarships, ITDAs and Micro Projects.

The OSWS cadre constitutes the Welfare Extension Officers (WEOs) while the OWS cadre consists of Additional District Welfare Officers (ADWOs), District Welfare Officers (DWOs), deputy director, and joint director and equivalent posts.  The state government has decided to restructure and rationalize the posts of WEOs and also increase the posts at the supervisory cadre levels.

Accordingly, each micro project agency will be strengthened by the creation of an additional post of WEO and ADWO.  Similarly, the Integrated Tribal Development Agencies (ITDAs) and sub-divisions will be provided with an additional ADWO, while in each Anwesha district a WEO will be posted at the district level for better supervision.

Further, the posts of deputy directors, joint directors and additional director will be increased.  Accordingly, 71 additional posts of ADWOs, 9 additional posts of DWOs, 8 additional posts of deputy directors, 3 additional posts of joint directors and one post of the additional director will be created.