Sambalpur: As many as 91,000 families of kendu leaf workers will be benefitted as the state government is all set provide scholarships to the wards of kendu leaf workers in the state, a report said Saturday.
The scholarship, which resumed in 2022 after it was stopped in 2019, will benefit the wards of 91,000 families of kendu leaf workers, pluckers and binders.
Speaking to mediapersons, Sanjit Mohanty, president of state Kendu Leaf Workers’ Welfare Board said that the state government has agreed to their demands during a recently held high-level meeting.
Threadbare discussions were held in the meeting on various problems that the students belonging to families engaged in kendu leaf works face in getting scholarships. The meeting decided on early payment of scholarship money to the students.
He said that a secretary-level meeting was held to include the wards of the kendu leaf workers in scholarship schemes. The meeting discussed various problems and steps to be taken to resolve them. This year there are over 91,000 students of kendu leaf workers for whom awareness programmes on scholarships are being undertaken in kendu leaf range and divisions.
As per its announcement November 22, 2022, the state government had conducted a survey to provide scholarships to wards of kendu leaf workers, pluckers and binders studying in schools and colleges.
Later, on the basis of the survey report, the state government convened a meeting at Bhubaneswar to resolve various problems in providing scholarship to the students, August 22.
Chief advisor in the CMO R Balchandran, IAS (retd) presided over the meeting attended by additional chief secretary Satyabrata Sahoo of Revenue and Forest department, ST & SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare department commissionercum- secretary Roopa Roshan Sahoo and president of state kendu leaf workers’ association Bijay Mohanty and senior officials.
According to the report, as many as 8,12,339 kendu leaf workers, pluckers, binders and seasonal workers were in the state in 2022. Among them, 8,12,221 or 99.98 per cent were included in the survey.
Over 93,257 wards of kendu leaf workers’ families were found eligible to receive scholarships in 2022- 23 FY. The survey was conducted on 91,758 pluckers’ families, 602 binders’ families and 897 families of seasonal workers.
According to the survey report, wards of 89,543 pluckers’ families, 552 binders’ families and 873 seasonal workers’ families were found eligible for scholarship. Taken together, a total of 90,868 students have been found eligible for scholarships.
PNN