Under the package, all the 17.89 lakh landless farmers in the state would get special assistance of Rs 1,000 each.
As the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic casts its shadow on Odisha’s rural and urban economy due to prolonged lockdowns, the Naveen Patnaik government on Thursday announced Rs 1690 crore Covid-19 assistance package for landless farmers, construction workers, NREGS workers, particularly vulnerable tribal groups, SC/ST students and physically handicapped students, as per a state press release.
Under the package, all the 17.89 lakh landless farmers in the state would get special assistance of ₹1,000 each while ₹207 crore will be given to landless farmers who did not receive their third instalment under the Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme.
Similarly, NREGS labourers will be paid an extra wage of ₹50 daily in addition to ₹207 that they already get. For the beneficiaries under the state food security scheme, 5 kilograms of extra rice will be given every month from July till November.
Families of 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups would get financial assistance of ₹5,000 each while ₹1,500 would be given to each construction workers registered with the state government.
Scholarship ranging from ₹200 to ₹350 would be provided to all divyang or students with disability who are not admitted in special schools. Similarly, students of special schools who are studying through online classes would get ₹1,245 every month as food assistance.
Earlier this month, Patnaik had sanctioned an amount of ₹26.29 crore from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund as Covid-19 assistance for 87,657 street vendors in urban areas as the prolonged lockdown impacted the livelihood of street vendors. The lockdown has been in place in the state for over a month and a half and would continue till the end of June. On Wednesday, the state government had announced some relaxation in lockdown in 17 western and southern Odisha districts.
As per the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s (CMIE) latest data, over 7 lakh people in Odisha lost their jobs after the lockdown was imposed on May 5. As per CMIE, the unemployment rate in Odisha was 1.9 per cent in April but by May-end it shot up to 7 per cent.
Last year, CM Patnaik had announced a Covid-19 assistance package in which working capital support up to ₹50,000 was provided to small eateries, vegetable retail shops, tea shops, bakeries, grinding mill, tailoring, small farm input suppliers, welding, plumbing and automobile mechanic shops facing crisis owing to reduced economic activities and changing business scenarios. A one-time loan amounting to ₹1.5 lakh was given to producer groups and enterprise groups formed by individuals working in the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors.
Enterprises managed by very poor or destitute families like physically challenged, particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG), widow, third gender, families with women as head were provided with a loan up to ₹20,000 for the development of the enterprise and uplifting of livelihood. Loans up to ₹1 lakh were provided to skilled and semi-skilled migrant workers who have returned during the Covid-19 pandemic for the development of existing enterprises and establishing new enterprises under package 4.
In a separate package announced in May last year, Patnaik had announced a ₹17,000 crore package to provide employment and income generation opportunities to the worst affected sections, including the 9 lakh migrant workers who returned to Odisha after the lockdown.
