Bhubaneswar, Aug. 21: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik today earned a pat on his back from a British delegation visiting the state.
The nine-member team of British MPs, led by Sir Alan Haselhurst, today met Naveen and expressed satisfaction over the progress of various socio-economic development programmes that are being executed in Odisha with financial assistance of the UK government.
“The people of Odisha are being empowered and are gathering confidence now. I have seen tribal women to be more articulate and confident now than ever before,” said a member of the visiting team.
The British team visited a few villages in Puri district and interacted with local residents to assess the impact of various schemes assisted by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), including rural sanitation and nutrition programmes.
They also had online interaction with some beneficiaries of cash transfer scheme for SC and ST girls and visited a dairy project at Gop near Konark.
“We are happy with the progress of the programmes being undertaken in Odisha with the support of the DFID,” said a member of the British delegation.
Apart from Naveen, the delegation also met senior Odisha government officials at the secretariat. Highlighting the achievements of Odisha in economic development and poverty alleviation, Naveen said: “Odisha has a long, productive and fruitful relationship with the DFID.”
During his UK trip in May, Naveen had met the British minister for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, in London and sought more DFID assistance for the socio-economic development of Odisha.
The UK government had agreed in principle to extend an assistance of Rs 300 crore for introduction of a cash transfer scheme for tribal and SC girl students studying in classes IX and X. Besides, the Odisha government had also got assurance for an assistance of Rs 150 crore for development of urban infrastructure.
In the past, the DFID had extended financial assistance for implementation of various public enterprise reform programmes and formulation of an industrial policy resolution.
