Bhubaneswar, Nov. 29: Odisha government is pulling out all stops to ensure victory in the ensuing panchayat election scheduled next year.
Aware that women constitute a big vote bank and around 50 lakh of them are part of self-help groups under Mission Shakti, the Naveen Patnaik government has been holding women's conferences at the block and district level for the past one month briefing them about the government's achievements.
As part of the exercise, the state government today held a convention of women in the state capital mobilising around 25,000 of them. The government also promised to come up with a slew of measures for their development in the coming days.
The panchayati raj department had roped in all its officers, including block development officers and district-level officials, to ensure that today's convention was successful. All the ministers and a few BJD MLAs and MPs had been invited to the event.
The chief minister had already visited 28 out of 30 districts inaugurating hundreds of projects, greeted the assembled women with a smile and sought their blessings.
Naveen announced that women self-help groups in the state would get Rs 1,000 crore credit linkage at only one per cent interest. "We will carry forward Biju babu's vision of making women skilled and empowered. The state government has planned to increase credit linkage for self-help group from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore to ensure that they can double their income."
Naveen said all efforts would be made to enhance the income of women so that they could lead a peaceful life and their children get education.
Sources said after BJP president Amit Shah had targeted the state government on November 25, the state government pulled out all stops to make today's event a success. An exhibition was organised to showcase the life story of Biju Patnaik. There were artistes who narrated the life story of Biju babu through dance and song. The government had asked the regional transport authorities to ensure that all the women came from their respective areas without being inconvenienced and took part in the event.
Soon after the conference was over, the BJP hurriedly called a news conference and accused Naveen of trying to fool the people of the state. "The Naveen Patnaik government is trying to give a rosy picture of the situation in the state. It has so far failed to distribute all the money that has come from the various agencies to the state government," said BJP vice-president Samir Mohanty.
