Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government Saturday raised the retirement benefits of 1.3 lakh anganwadi workers, mini anganwadi workers, and helpers and approved a package for nearly 50,000 community support staff working in panchayats and villages.
In a statement the Chief Minister’s Office said the financial incentive for anganwadi workers has been increased to Rs 40,000 from Rs 20,000.
The incentives for mini anganwadi workers and helpers have been doubled from Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 and Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 respectively.
The Odisha government has been providing the incentive to anganwadi workers, mini anganwadi workers, and helpers during disengagement, upon their attainment of 62 years, as a measure of social security.
The statement said that the new financial incentive will be given from January 1, 2019, with retrospective effect.
As many as 1,991 anganwadi workers, mini anganwadi workers, and helpers who have been disengaged from January 2019 till date will also get the benefit, the statement said.
In another announcement, Patnaik approved a financial package for the nearly 50,000 community support staff working in panchayats and villages under Mission Shakti across the state.
As per the decision, the government will provide identity cards and Rs 1,000 to each Community Support Staff (CSS) per annum.
This apart, the CSS will get one-time financial assistance of Rs.5,000 towards the purchase of smartphones of their choice.
All Community Resource Person- Community Mobilisation (CRP-CM) will receive a monthly honorarium of Rs 3,000, a fixed transport allowance of Rs 350 per month, and an additional telephone allowance of Rs.150 per month.
CRP-CMs are members of women SHGs who guide groups of SHGs after training.
Noting that Mission Shakti is a movement that has transformed the lives of 70 lakh women in the state, the statement said in the current year nearly Rs 6000 crore bank loans were disbursed to women SHGs and Rs 200 crore was deposited in bank accounts of SHGs for interest subvention.
PTI