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  • Odisha deal with agri, well being, MSMEs

    Odisha Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari Monday offered the state Budget for 2021-22, with a thrust on agriculture, healthcare, industries, livelihood and heritage and tourism growth.
    “We propose a larger budgetary outlay of Rs.1,70,000 crore for 2021-22 which includes an outlay of Rs 85,000 crore for administrative expenditure, Rs 75,000 crore for programme expenditure, Rs 3,050 crore for Disaster Response, and Rs 6,950 crore for transfer to local bodies and development authorities. Besides, we propose to invest about Rs 8,000 crore from off-budget resources like OMBADC, DMF, State PSUs etc to supplement the budgetary outlay. The capital outlay in 2021-22 is Rs 25,788 crore, which is about 4.4 per cent of GSDP,” Pujari stated in his price range speech.
    The price range for 2021-22 was offered via the National e-Vidhan Application. Pujari stated the initiative would scale back printing of about 1.5 crore pages of paper and save about 2,000 massive timber.
    The complete funding for Agriculture and Allied sector from budgetary and off-budget sources can be about Rs 20,000 crore, Pujari stated, emphasising that this sector contributes round 21 per cent to the Gross State Value Added as per the advance estimates of 2020-21.
    With a sum of Rs 9,164 crore, the general public healthcare sector noticed a bounce of 19 per cent budgetary allocation. “The outbreak of the pandemic and its management affirm our belief that providing state-of-the-art healthcare facilities and keeping a workforce of medical professionals and trained health workers always in a state of readiness to deal with such unprecedented public health emergencies,” Pujari stated.
    With particular emphasis on MSMEs this 12 months, Rs 465 crore has been allotted to advertise the sector, a bounce of 86 per cent in allocation over the earlier 12 months. A particular Covid package deal of round Rs 289 crore to help MSMEs within the wake of the pandemic’s impression was already in place.
    To handle misery migration from affected blocks within the state amid the pandemic, a corpus fund of Rs 500 crore has been allotted to facilitate well timed fee of wages below MGNREGA.
    Heritage Conservation and Tourism growth has additionally obtained a serious increase with a 25 per cent enhance within the allocation to tourism division.

  • Odisha BJP claims delay in paddy procurement, says farmers compelled to promote beneath MSP

    The problem of paddy procurement within the state snowballed right into a political slugfest with the opposition BJP holding a sit in protest on the intervening evening of Thursday and Friday in Sambalpur and accusing the ruling BJD of ignoring farmers’ welfare and hampering paddy procurement within the state.
    The problem comes amid the state authorities’s tussle with the Centre over the latter’s choice to cap parboiled rice procurement from the state to 50 %.
    A scuffle broke out on the protest web site amongst BJP employees and the police following which, 50 employees of the saffron celebration had been detained and launched later, officers mentioned.

    State BJP leaders allege that the BJD authorities has misled farmers with its centralised token system, with many farmers unable to promote their produce. The BJD nonetheless, assured that the crop of “genuine” farmers could be procured.
    Following the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI’s) choice to cap procurement, the BJD had threatened a stir if the choice was not retracted inside seven days.
    Rajya Sabha MP and BJP in-charge of Odisha, Bijaypal Singh Tomar mentioned, “Due to the token system, many farmers are still waiting for their turn. They are forced to sell their produce below the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Rs 1,868, as the procurement is stalled at various government-run yards.”
    “The government has been claiming that this year, they have procured 22 per cent more paddy than last year. But the reality is totally opposite. Food supplies minister Ranendra Pratap Swain had promised that criminal cases will be filed if paddy is procured below the MSP at any place. But no cases are being filed anywhere,” BJP MP from Bargarh, Suresh Pujari, alleged.
    BJD spokesperson Shreemayee Mishra hit out on the allegations saying the state BJP was representing the pursuits of “middle-men”.
    “When paddy procurement has happened in such huge scale benefiting farmers, some middle-men (dalals) have caught hold of Odisha BJP, and they are advocating for them. People of Odisha know that Odisha BJP has always been advocating for middle-men (Dalals),” Mishra mentioned.
    “Further, in order to divert the attention from the farmers’ agitation going on in Delhi, the Odisha BJP is unnecessarily creating nuisance, which the people of Odisha have very well understood,” she added.
    Amid the political back-and-forth, farmers, whose produce is but to be bought, have began an evening vigil at yards their wares from theft.
    Ashok Pradhan, a farmer chief in western Odisha, mentioned the centralized tokens of most farmers have expired and that they now await its renewal because the produce stays unsold. “Unlike other years, this year luckily there was no pest infestation or natural calamity, which is why the harvest was good. However, there have been a lot of issues pertaining to procurement, forcing farmers to sell below MSP in open yards,” Pradhan mentioned.
    “First, the government did not revise its ceiling of paddy procurement of 19 quintals for every acre of irrigated land and 13 quintals for every acre of non-irrigated land. As a result, thousands of farmers were left with unsold paddy, which they had to sell at half the price of MSP. Then for most, the centralised token system has meant a long wait, adding to their woes,” Pradhan added.
    Meanwhile, the state authorities on Friday additionally suspended 15 staff of main agricultural societies (PACS) and dismissed a knowledge entry operator from service on expenses of irregularities in paddy procurement. The suspensions had been ordered in 4 districts — Sambalpur, Balangir, Boudh and Keonjhar.
    On the opposite hand, a delegation of BJD MPs interacted with Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal by means of video convention on Friday demanding an early decision on the problem of the cap on rice procurement.
    Earlier this week, Swain additionally wrote to Goyal apprising him in regards to the pending subsidy claims for paddy procurement and FCI’s choice over parboiled rice.
    “As all resources including the sanctioned limit of bank finances have been exhausted by OSCSC [Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited], the pending subsidy may be released urgently as further paddy procurement from farmers will be severely affected,” he had written.
    Swain additionally acknowledged that FCI’s choice could have “far reaching adverse consequences for the state”. The estimated surplus to be evacuated by FCI within the present Marketing session is within the vary of 30 lakh MT, Swain knowledgeable.

  • Naveen Patnaik launches tasks price over Rs 2,000 crore in Kalahandi

    Kalahandi district is not the “land of hunger” and an instance of maximum poverty, however has remodeled into Odisha’s rice bowl and a mannequin of improvement mentioned Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday whereas launching a slew of tasks price over Rs 2,000 crore within the district. Patnaik laid down the muse of 52 tasks price Rs 1,020 crore and inaugurated 57 tasks price Rs 1064 in his first ever public gathering because the COVID-19 outbreak.
    He credited the transformation of the district to Indravati river. The Upper Indravati Lift Canal System was amongst the 57 tasks which had been inaugurated by the CM. Built at a price of Rs 986.71 crore, the irrigation system, comprising 43.26 km of concrete canals and 1,142 km of underground pipelines, has the capability to irrigate 25,275 hectares of cropland. 10 consuming water tasks, 13 test dams, meals parks, energy feed traces, and roads and bridges had been additionally inaugurated by the CM on Thursday.
    Recalling Kalahandi’s reference to former CM and his father Biju Patnaik, the CM mentioned, “When Biju Babu was the CM in 1990s, he had visited Kalahandi once and was injured in a stone pelting incident. When I inquired about the bleeding, he had assured me that there was nothing to worry about. He said that the people of Kalahandi loved him and he reciprocates that love and respect. He was determined to work hard towards the development of the district,” Patnaik mentioned,
    “When I had the opportunity to serve Odisha, Biju Babu’s words resonated in my mind and guided me to work towards the development of Kalahandi,” Patnaik added whereas praising the district’s progress in agriculture and turning into the second largest paddy producing district within the state.

    Noting that the deliberate makes an attempt by some folks to maintain Kalahandi poverty stricken have failed, he said that the irrigation potential within the state has elevated three fold whereas fish manufacturing has considerably gone up. Rs 1200 crore has additionally been disbursed on to the financial institution accounts of the farmers of Kalahandi in the course of the paddy procurement season.
    Meanwhile Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly and BJP’s Bhawanipatna MLA Pradipta Naik who skipped the occasion calling it an opulent expenditure “Why such lavish amount was spent for the event that too from the government exchequer when all of us battling the pandemic,” Naik mentioned. The state authorities is claiming credit for tasks that are funded by the Central authorities, which isn’t ethically appropriate, he added.

  • COVID-19 damaging report not required to enter Puri Jagannath temple from Jan 21

    Image Source : PTI COVID-19 damaging report not required to enter Puri Jagannath temple from Jan 21
    The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Sunday introduced that devotees needn’t produce their COVID-19 damaging report for getting entry into the twelfth century shrine in Puri from January 21. The determination on this regard was taken at a gathering attended by SJTA chief Krishan Kumar, Puri district magistrate-cum collector Samarth Verma and Superintendent of Police Okay B Singh.
    “The devotees can enter into the temple without having COVID-19 negative report from January 21. The decision will remain in force till February 21,” the SJTA chief instructed reporters.
    Kumar mentioned the SJTA has determined to calm down the restriction which was imposed on temple entry for most people. The temple opened for public from January 3 after remaining closed for 9 months within the wake of the pandemic.

    The Puri Collector mentioned that particular preparations and queue system will quickly be launched for aged/senior residents coming to the temple.
    The temple was opened in a phased method from December 23, 2020. While the servitors and their relations had been allowed to enter the temple from December 23 to December 25 night, the native residents of Puri received alternative to have darshan of the deities between December 26 and 31.
    The temple was lastly opened to the general public for darshan of the sibling deities – Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath – from January 3, 2021 adhering to the COVID-19 pointers. 
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