Bhubaneswar: The state Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday decided to appoint a welfare extension officer (WEO) in the districts where the Anwesha scheme is being implemented.
The state Cabinet, which met at the Secretariat here Friday, approved seven crucial proposals.
Briefing the media about the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Chief Secretary AP Padhi said, “The Cabinet has approved restructuring of the cadre of Odisha Welfare Service (OWS) and Odisha Subordinate Welfare Service (OSWS).”
While OSWS cadre constituted the WEO, the OWS cadre consists of additional district welfare officer (ADWO), district welfare officer (DWO), deputy director, joint director and equivalent posts, he said.
As per the decision, an additional post of WEO will be created for each Anwesha district and micro project working for primitive vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG) while additional ADWO will be appointed at Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) and sub-division level. Further, the number of posts of deputy director, joint director and additional director will be enhanced. As many as 71 additional posts of ADWOs, nine DWOs, eight deputy directors, three joint directors and one additional director will be created, he said.
Similarly, the government has decided to remove the criterion of Plus II Science or equivalent qualification mandatory for promotion of horticulture overseers/ demonstration assistants.
The Chief Secretary said the Cabinet has also approved the proposal for converting Rs 36.39 crore loan of Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation of Odisha Ltd (TDCCOL) into equities and share capital investment of state government. With this approval, TDCCOL will be now debt-free.
The proposal for restructuring of geologist cadre of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWS&S) and Water Resource department has been approved by the panel. With this, the geologist cadre in ground water development has been increased to 48 from 34 while it has been enhanced to 39 from 19 in RWS&S, he added.
What is Anwesha scheme?
As a step towards fulfilment of hopes and aspirations of the parents of ST/SC communities to get their children educated in public schools of urban areas Anwesha was implemented for providing quality education to ST/SC students in 2015-16. The programme is currently being implemented in 17 districts- Angul, Bargarh, Bolangir, Deogarh, Ganjam, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Mayurbanj, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sundargarh.
