ODISHA

Union Education minister DharmendraPradhanhas written two different letters to his cabinet colleague Bhupender Yadav, Union labour and EMPLOYMENT minister, requesting him to create sub-regional office (SRO) of employees state Insurance corporation (Esic) atJharsugudaand personal intervention for opening of 12 dispensaries at different places ofOdisha.

In the first letter, Pradhan stated that the ESIC regional office at Bhubaneswar is in the eastern side of Odisha and it is not easily accessible for the employers and beneficiaries from the western part of the state. Hence, a proposal has been put forth for creation of a SRO at Jharsuguda under the ESIC regional office Bhubaneswar, said Pradhan.

The Union education minister stated that most of the states have at least one or more number of SROs, but Odisha has no SRO at present. Because of the long distance, many people face difficulties to come to Bhubaneswar for any ESI related work.

The state commerce and transport secretaryMadhu Sudan Padhihas asked all district collectors, SPs and regional transport officers to strictly comply with the directive of theSupreme Court Committeeon Road Safety. The transport department has laid Stress on the conduct of joint inspection of accident spots on regular basis from August 1.

The government said proper analysis of the accidents can be done once the Integrated Road Accident Database (IRAD) project in launched in Odisha. TheWorld Bankfunded project, which is being executed by theministry of road transportand highways across the country, is aimed at analysing the causes of road accidents and devising measures to cut down the fatality rate. The ministry already rolled out the IT-based solution in six states Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Nadu and Madhya Pradesh.

Once launched, the ministry of road transport and highways will provide funds to the State Government to purchase tablets for the Police stations for capturing the spot accident data by using the IRAD mobile App. This data can be used for finding the causes of the accidents and remedial measures to improve the road Infrastructure, to record the accidents data for the use of police, Health Services and other concerned departments.

In a first of its kind initiative, the Water Corporation ofOdisha(WATCO) has planned to build an exclusive hostel for transgender persons. Coming up at Rokat, on the outskirts of the city, this will be the first such facility for the community in the state.

In order to execute the project, WATCO has recently floated a tender to hire an architectural firm, which will conduct the site inspection as well as give a detailed architectural and feasibility plan to the corporation for the project.

The department of social security and Empowerment of persons with disability of the state has also been taking a number of initiatives to increase facilities and living standards of the transgender persons in the state.

A committee led by finance minister Niranjan Pujari has given its nod to establish 34 new courts16 civil, 10 commercial and eight sessions courtsin the state, law minister Pratap Jena said here on Monday. Jena said the new courts will help reduce pendency and take the delivery system closer to people.

Odisha currently has more than 700 Subordinate Courts. According to a reply given by Union law ministerKiren RijijuinLok Sabhaon March 25, total 15.45 lakh cases are pending cases in lower courts in Odisha. They include 12.38 lakh criminal cases and 3.07 lakh civil cases. Similarly, 1.89 lakh cases are pending in theOrissaHigh Court, the HCs pendency report as on April 29 on its website shows.

Two commercial courts will come up in Puri besides one each in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Balasore, Balangir, Kendrapada, Jeypore and Rourkela. One commercial court will be a Leave Reserve court to hear cases in case of any commercial court judge on leave.
The law department has asked the registrar of the Orissa high court for staff pattern and revised cost estimates for establishment of the different courts. As per the current estimate, the government would spend Rs 21.26 crore on Infrastructure.

The on Tuesday approved five Investment proposals in the Metal sector worth Rs 1.46 lakh crore with an aim to double steel production in the state over the next few years. While the states existing steel-making capacity is about 30 mtpa, the high-level clearance authority led by chief ministerNaveen Patnaikapproved another 27.5 mtpa capacity. All five approved proposals are expansion of existing facilities.

All these projects need a big push forward to realize Odishas dream of becoming the steel hub of India by 2030, Naveen said during the meeting. The national steel policy-2017, that aims to increase the countrys steel production to 300 mtpa by 2030, envisionsOdishaproducing 100 mtpa steel by that time.

Official sources in the state industries department said Odisha attracted investment opportunities of Rs 2.96 lakh crore during the 2020-21 financial year despite Covid. With Tuesdays additional investments, the total investments since last year will be in the region of Rs 4.43 lakh crore.

The approved projects include expansion ofBhushan Power and SteelLimiteds (BPSL) plant from 5 mtpa to 15 mtpa. Around Rs 55,000 crore will be invested in the expansion project located at Rengali in Sambalpur while it is expected to generate EMPLOYMENT opportunities for over 10,000 people.

As per direction of CM Naveen Patnaik, 5T Secretary VK Pandian visited the Joranda Mahima Gadi in Dhenkanal district on Monday and informed about the State Governments plan to develop, beautify and transform the heritage spot.

He lauded the Mahima religion for its emphasis on , Fraternity and world peace. CM Patnaik is deeply influenced by the core principles of the Mahima religion, he said. He informed that the CM has kept a hand fan made up of palm leaf used by the Mahima Sadhus at his residence. The fan inspires him to live a simple and selfless life with a broad vision.

The State Government would provide all support to promotion and propagation of the Mahima religion, assured Pandian, adding that all Mahima Peethas across the State would also be developed. Naming the Balangir Medical College after Mahima Saint Bhima Bhoi is a sign of the Government’s commitment towards the development of the religion, said Pandian.

Pandian said that a bridge has been built over the Brahmani river from Kaluria to Sardeipur at a cost of Rs 235.56 crore by which people of 62 villages have been benefitted. Besides, the tourists and devotees to the Mahima Gadi are able to conveniently commute. The CM has named the bridge as Mahima Setu.

The announced formation of a high-powered advisory committee to guide the government on preparing for possible future waves of the pandemic and on vaccination strategy.

Public Health expert K Srinath Reddy, who has earlier worked as health adviser to theNaveen Patnaikgovernment with a cabinet ministers rank in 2017, will head the panel. Renowned doctors Ramakant Panda and Devi Shetty are members of the committee.

Patnaik stated that during this Kharif season, a record 14,94,320 farmers have sold paddy to the Government at MSP. The paddy procurement for Kharif season (KMS 2022-23) is going to be closed by March 31. About 65.23 LMT of paddy equivalent to 44.23 LMT Kharif CMR has been procured as on March 22.

In the ensuing Rabi (2022-23), it is expected that about 10 lakh MT of CMR would be procured in the State. Thus, total 54 lakh MT CMR is likely to be procured during 2022-23. Odishas own consumption would be 24 lakh MT of rice under NFSA, SFSS and other welfare schemes.

So, the State would be left with approximately 20 lakh MT of surplus rice. Non-evacuation of above quantity of surplus rice from the State would severely affect the States paddy procurement operations in the coming seasons as well as it would adversely impact the livelihood of lakhs of famers, Patnaik stated.