Odisha announces Rs 17,000 crore livelihood package for farmers, daily wagers
Bhubaneswar: With the mass return of migrants from different states leading to serious unemployment situation in rural areas, the Odisha government on Friday announced a special livelihood intervention package worth Rs 17,000 crore. The move aims to generate employment opportunities through different sectors like agriculture, fisheries, MGNREGS, skill development, forestry, handloom and handicrafts.
The package was approved by the state council of ministers led by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who met through video-conference to mark the completion of the first year of the fifth term of the ruling BJD government.
Chief secretary Asit Tripathy said, “The Covid-19 pandemic is not only a public health crisis, but also an economic crisis. Since a major portion of the population lives in rural areas, a special livelihood intervention was necessary for their economic development. The farmers and wage earners will get the direct benefit of the livelihood package.”
Officials said it will be implemented in 10 months from June this year to March next.
More than four lakh Odias have already returned to the state during the lockdown, while four lakh more are expected to come back in the next few weeks.
Tripathy said Rs 373 crore will be spent under the agriculture and fisheries and animal resources development sectors, which would benefit nearly 25 lakh farmers.
“In the agriculture sector, we will provide 5.5 lakh quintals of certified quality seeds to 10 lakh farmers at 75% subsidy. Similarly, five lakh farmers will be provided with hybrid vegetable seeds covering 50,000 hectares. Another five lakh farmers will be supported with vegetable mini-kits covering 50,000 hectares of land. The state government will also support two lakh more farmers for backyard plantation of fruit plants,” Tripathy said.
The livelihood package also includes support to farmers in tribal areas for high-value vegetable crops, financial assistance to betel farmers and support to 5,000 women self-help groups and 10,000 individual farmers for mushroom cultivation. Another 3,000 farmers will be supported for floriculture.
With the fisheries and animal resources development being a major source of income for people living in rural areas, the package targets to create 2,000 hectares of new fish ponds benefiting 5,000 farmers, provide input assistance to 1,500 women self-help groups for pisciculture in panchayat tanks and provide livelihood support to 15,000 marine fishermen. The package also aims to support farmers in setting up 4,500 new broiler farms and 750 layer farms.
The state government’s plan to disburse crop loans worth Rs 9,000 crore to 20 lakh farmers during the ongoing kharif season is also part of the package. Also, another Rs 700 crore has been proposed as interest subvention on previous crop loans.
In view of the Centre’s decision to allocate additional Rs 40,000 crore under the MGNREGS, the state government has also set an ambitious target to create 20 crore persons/days of works as part of the rural job scheme. Over 6,440 crore is estimated to be spent under the scheme.
“The panchayati raj department has also set a target of providing skill development training to 40,000 migrants in a bid to create 1.05 lakh farm ponds and five lakh nutri gardens under which fruit-bearing plants will be supplied in rural areas,” the chief secretary said, adding that the forest and environment department would spend around Rs 500 crore on employment generation through various initiatives.
Besides, the apex cooperative societies in the handicraft and handloom sector like Utkalika and Boyanika will be provided Rs 5 crore and 25 crore, respectively, for procurement of produces from artisans and weavers.
The chief secretary said the administration will work in a focused manner in the next few months for the successful implementation of the livelihood package.
The package, however, has failed to enthuse the farmers leaders as they had demanded direct financial benefit for their community at the moment.
“We have been continuously demanding social security pension for farmers under which the state government should transfer money directly to the accounts of farmers,” Akshaya Kumar, convener of the Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan, said.