Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday directed collectors of 29 districts in the state to set up centers for the Aahar or `5 meal scheme in their district headquarters by February 25.
“Infrastructure for the Aahar scheme will be readied in all districts by February 25, as directed by the Chief Minister,” housing and urban development minister Pushpendra Singhdeo said at the secretariat.
The scheme will be implemented in all districts except Sambalpur. Under it, 57 Aahar centres will be opened at which a total of 30,300 meals will be prepared for the poor.
Aahar centres will also be set up in major towns and urban bodies of districts, Singhdeo said. Earlier, the state government had planned to expand the ‘cheap meal’ programme to 50 towns in the state.
The Chief Minister, who reviewed the extension of the Aahar scheme through vide conference, also asked all collectors concerned to give special emphasis on sanitation, drinking water and staff training at these centres, according to officials.
Singhdeo said the state government is identifying public and private organisations for funding the scheme in these districts. The Chief Minister will take the call on when the food programme will be started in these centres, he said.
The state government had launched the Aahar scheme to provide subsidised food to urban poor in five major cities of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Berhampur and Rourkela from April 1. The subsidised food programme, aims to provide a meal at `5 to people thronging various cities and has been catering to the needs of more than 22,000 people across 21 centers.
The scheme is being sponsored by Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, Orissa Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) in Rourkela and Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) in Sambalpur. Tata Steel is supporting the scheme in Berhampur, official sources said.