Bhubaneswar: About 70 lakh self-help group (SHG) members in Odisha will get assistance of Rs 1000 each for uniforms while 1.5 lakh Executive Committee (EC) members and Management Committee (MC) members will get assistance of Rs 2000 each for blazers. The decision to provide financial assistance to the SHG members, EC, and MC members was taken at a Cabinet meeting Friday chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Addressing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Chief Secretary PK Jena said that financial assistance to all Mission Shakti SHG members at Rs 1,000 per SHG member will be provided to purchase uniforms of choice as per their group decision.
A budgetary allocation of Rs 730 crore has been made for the purpose during the FY 2023- 24. Jena said that Odisha has set a vibrant model of women empowerment under the 5T governance model. The Mission Shakti, spearheaded by the CM, has evolved to empower women and redefine their societal roles, transforming SHGs into formidable forces driving economic growth and social change, he added. The Cabinet also approved the implementation of the ‘NUA-O Scholarship’ scheme for students of UG and PG courses.
Under the scholarship, students across the state in state universities, government and non-government aided colleges including aided Sanskrit colleges and unaided private colleges taking admission through the Student Academic Management System (SAMS), a portal for admission, will get Rs 9,000 (boys) to Rs 10,000 (girls) per annum, Jena said. Jena said the SC/ST students and children of construction workers pursuing UG/PG will get scholarships at higher rates of Rs 10,000 and Rs 11,000 for male and female students respectively. The scheme entails a total outlay of Rs 3701.08 crores over 5 years from 2023-24 to 2027-28.