Bhubaneswar: The state government has so far distributed at least Rs 36 crore to 7,014 Biju Yuva Vahini (BYV) groups in 30 districts, sports and youth services minister Chandra Sarathi Behera told the Assembly here Saturday.
In a written reply to Anubhav Patnaik, Behera said the government has made a provision of distribution of financial assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh per every BYV group for undertaking various social, cultural and sports activities.
Out of Rs 1.5 lakh, Rs 30,000 is provided for undertaking social activities at panchayat and ward level while Rs 20,000 is given for Mu Hero Campaign and Rs 10,000 for art and culture development. Besides, he said, a provision is there to provide Rs 50,000 for procurement of sports items.
As of now, Behera said the government has released Rs 50,000 each to 7,014 BYV groups. While Rs 313.10 crore has been sanctioned to 6262 such groups formed at panchayat level, Rs 87.50 lakh given to 175 NAC level groups and Rs 1.71 crore to 342 BVY groups formed at municipality level, he pointed out.
The minister further told the house that Rs 1.17 crore was allocated to 235 Biju Yuva Vahini groups formed at five municipal corporation towns-Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Rourkela.
The BYV, a sub-scheme of Biju Yuva Sashaktikaran was passed by the Cabinet March 14, 2018. It aims to target youths of Odisha to promote leadership, volunteerism and a healthy lifestyle through sports and social action interventions. The government has targeted to form 8,000 such groups where around four lakh youths of the state will be involved.
The state government has made a provision of Rs 450.49 crore for three years to set up Biju Yuva Bahini in panchayats and urban local bodies (ULBs). This year, a budgetary provision of Rs 90 crore has been made for the programme.
PNN
