Bhubaneswar: The state Cabinet Monday approved the guidelines for the Ama Gaon Ama Bikash (AGAB) scheme. The major objective of the scheme is to take up construction of new projects which will contribute to the overall development of the community and well-being of the general public, Chief Secretary A P Padhi said.
As per the guidelines, any rural infrastructure project costing between `1 lakh and `10 lakh, which cannot be taken up under any other scheme or programme, can be taken up under AGAB. The projects will be directly approved by the Chief Minister and implemented departmentally.
The amount will be deposited in the account of the concerned District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) which will be passed to the concerned block and panchayat. An amount of `1250 crore has been earmarked for the 2018-19 fiscal.
Out of the total approved cost of the project, 2 per cent will be utilised as administrative contingency.
The projects approved under the AGAB scheme will be completed within one year. If no expenditure has been made within six months from the date of issue of work order, the funds shall be diverted to some other project as decided by the government, read the guidelines.
Besides, the Cabinet also approved the ‘Odisha Agriculture and Food Production Service (Methods of Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2018’. With this new rule, new posts like chief district agriculture officer (CDAO), agriculture district officer (ADO) and block agriculture officer (BAO) will be created.
The AGAB programme was launched by the chief minister March 5, 2018 which is observed as Panchayati Raj Diwas (the birth anniversary of Late former CM Biju Patnaik).
Cong, BJP slam govt over paddy procurement policy
Bhubaneswar: Opposition Congress and BJP criticised the state’s paddy procurement policy decided by the state Cabinet Monday alleging it will not benefit the farmers.
The state Cabinet decided to deposit farmers’ dues in their bank accounts directly within 72 hours of sale of their produce.
However, Union minister and BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan said the government’s announcement to deposit the dues within 72 hours was a blatant lie.
“Since the past several years, paddy procurement in the state has been saddled with irregularities. There is resentment over the fact that farmers are being harassed either by millers or middlemen over quality of their produce,” he added.
To ensure the hiked MSP reached the farmers, BJP will guard the mandis to check any irregularity including the nexus between middlemen and corrupt officers, Pradhan stated.
Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) working president Naba Das said, “Both Centre and state government are hoodwinking ours farmers by making false promises, keeping elections in mind. The reforms are not going to help the poor farmers.”
Reacting to the allegations leveled by the Opposition, Cooperative minister Surya Narayan Patro said, “There will be no middlemen. The money will be directly sent to the bank account of farmers, whose paddy has been procured. How will there be any irregularity?” The minister appealed to all the farmers to bring their paddy to mandis for sale to avail the MSP.
