Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik sanctioned Tuesday financial assistance of Rs 26.29 crore for street vendors of urban areas in the state. The assistance will be provided from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF). The vendors during the Covid-19 pandemic have suffered huge losses due to lockdown and shutdown. A total of 87,657 street vendors will be benefited, it was learnt.
The ongoing lockdown and shutdown will continue till June 17, 2021. Though groceries and shops dealing in essential commodities have been allowed to do business till 11.00am, the street vendors have not been allowed to do so. Hence their livelihood has been affected.
It should be stated here that June 3, Naveen had sanctioned Rs 67.52 lakh from the CMRF for stray animals in urban areas.
To feed stray animals, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is spending around Rs 20,000 per day while the municipal corporations of Cuttack, Rourkela, Berhampur and Sambalpur are spending Rs 10,000 each. Similarly, each of the 48 municipalities has been asked to spend up to Rs 5,000 and each of 61 Notified Area Councils (NACs) up to Rs 2,000 per day.
PNN
