Bhubaneswar: A Library-cum-Citizen Information and Assistance Centre named ‘Gyan Sarobar’ was dedicated for the City people at the Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD), here Monday.
“The Information-cum-Assistance Centre will serve as a repository of government-declared entitlements, guidelines, advisories, IECs and other learning materials such as budget analytics, development reports and reference materials relating to social development, and will act as a Citizen Support Centre (CSC). It will create awareness among citizens about their rights and entitlements and will support them to function as watchdogs of development programmes,” said SK Dash, Chairman and Founder of US-based philanthropic organization Dash Foundation.
By simplifying different schemes and disseminating information among the targeted beneficiaries, the library-cum-information centre will play a very important role in promoting assertiveness for citizen-oriented, transparent, accountable, and effective governance, informed department of Odia Language Literature and Culture additional secretary Madhusudan Das while dedicating the centre.
“Even though Odisha ranked ninth in the poverty index of the country despite the presence of a slew of poverty alleviation schemes, it is high time citizens were made aware of their rights and entitlements as well as duties and responsibilities”, Dash added.
“CYSD intends to spread a CSC movement in the state in partnership with likeminded CSOs,” said CYSD’s co-founder Jagadananda. The CSC will soon be opened at Kapundi in Saharapada block of Keonjhar and Mundaguda in Boipariguda block of Koraput district.
The centre will also serve as a state resource centre for budget literacy, financial literacy and digital literacy. The centre will further advance citizen-led accountability drives through a structured support and assistance plan in social audits, realisation of right to Public Services Guarantee Acts and the Rights to Information Act.
These centres will serve people including those from indigenous communities, the rural poor, migrant workers, unemployed youth and adolescent groups by compiling sets of tools including advisories, informative materials and accountability tools in simplified forms.
They will generate awareness on social policy schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), National Food Security Act (NFSA), National Social Assistance Scheme (NSAP), Forest Rights Act (FRA), Right To Education (RTE), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
