Bhubaneswar: With Covid-19 turning out to be a cause of concern, the Odisha government Wednesday announced a special package for the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs).
Sources in the ST & SC Development department informed that government will provide dry rations worth Rs 2,500 to all Covid-19 affected PVTG households.
Incentive of Rs 1,400 (Rs 100 per day) will also be provided to all such tribal groups who are affected by Covid-19 for stay in quarantine centres.
Similarly, free masks and sanitisers will be distributed to all PVTGs. Door-to-door survey and screening will be carried out for detection of Covid-19 symptoms, the sources said.
The Community Resource Persons (CRPs) working in PVTG villages will be awarded an incentive of Rs 1,000 per month for four months.
Moreover, health kits and life insurance coverage has been provided for all the field functionaries under micro project agencies (MPAs).
The government feels that this scheme will boost the confidence of those working in tribal areas.
Provision of funds has been created for supporting isolation centres at village level and Covid care centres at MPA level and dedicated ambulances for emergency transport.
There are 13 PVTG communities of Odisha residing in 14 districts. It should be stated here that many tribal groups living in Malkangiri and Sundargarh districts had initially stayed away for vaccination.
Some of these groups were not even ready to follow Covid-19 guidelines leading to spread of the pandemic in rural areas.
PNN