Bhubaneswar, 20/06/2024
Minister of School and Mass Education, ST & SC Development,
Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department, Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Nityananda Gond, while
reviewing the various programmes and schemes of the SC & ST Development
M&BCW Department on Thursday, called for massive awareness programmes to
identify young people to be the voice of the deprived and taking various
livelihood related programmes to the grassroots.
While reviewing the work of ST & SC Development M&BCW Department at
SCSTRTI Conference Hall in Bhubaneswar this afternoon, the Minister also asked the officials of
the Department to go for a new scheme to construct Multi-purpose Community Centres for tribal people across the state and Urban Residential Programmes in
and around the State Capital to accommodate stay and food for the tribal family
members and students.
Calling for inclusion of Class XI and XII students under the ANWESHA
Scheme to provide quality English medium education for bright tribal boys and
girls in urban areas, he also stressed need for more hostel facilities for SC and
OBC boys and girls across the state through state schemes as they are still facing
difficulties while availing higher education.
He also emphasized 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
he also asked the Department officials to make provision for minor forest
produce (MFP) procurement at gram panchayat level and make the GPs serve as
procurement units.
The Minister also asked the officials and staff for all-round cooperation
and makes a 100-Day Action Plan and a Vision Document to take the reach of
the department to a new-level.
The Minister was briefed on various schemes,
programmes, initiatives and activities undertaken by the ST & SC Development
M&BCW Department by Commissioner-cum-Secretary Smt.
Roopa Roshan
Sahoo and other senior officials.
During his review, the Minister also suggested that to make the Pradhan
Mantri Anusuchit Jati Abhyuday Yojna (PM-AJAY) more people-centric, district
level meeting and awareness should also be held at GP-level.
Saying that timely
disbursal of agricultural inputs must be ensured for livelihood schemes like Mukhya Mantri Janajati Jeevika Mission, the Minister asked the senior officials
to include more and more PVTG groups through state schemes and Pradhan Mantri Janajati Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN).
Terming the unused government buildings (both under State and Centre jurisdiction) as a seer wastage of the public exchequer, the Minister advised the
Department officials to map such structures across the State and use them for the
hostel purposes of the SC,ST, OBC and minority communities across Odisha.
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 also asked for up-scaling the product so that the tribal groups
involved in the processing and cultivation would benefit.