A rescue team on a country boat at Bari in Jajpur district. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 29: The state government today decided to go for a massive recruitment drive of boatmen after drawing flak for not using boats during the floods because of shortage of skilled manpower.

All these boatmen will be deployed for operating mechanised boats and technical personnel will be recruited to take care of the boats.

Chief secretary Bijay Patnaik said: “The cabinet today gave its nod to the Service Rule State Port Engineering (Boat Crew) Recruitment Rules 2011.”

Under the new rule, posts of khalasi, sea cunning, launch-drivers and saranga (captain) will be created. The minimum qualification for a khalasi will be Class VII. After five years at the job, the khalasis will be promoted to the post of sea cunning and subsequently to the rank of captain.

Though the state administration has 210 mechanised boats, only 83 boats were pressed into service to carry out relief and rescue operations during the current floods because of a staff crunch.

The Telegraph, on Thursday, carried a detailed report on how the lack of manpower had affected the relief and rescue operations.

Four skilled people are needed to operate a mechanised boat. At least 250 posts will be created in the first phase to man these boats.

The state cabinet also approved the Orissa State Port Engineering (Mechanised Fitter) Rules. Under the rules, fitter and skilled manpower will be appointed for the maintenance of the boats. Significantly, no appointment has been made to this effect since 1989.

Reports from the worst-hit Kendrapara and Jajpur districts said boats were lying idle at several strategic locations as relief materials piled up in block offices instead of being dispatched to designated marooned spots.

There are plenty of relief materials and boats. But some boats are not fit to navigate the troubled waters. Even if they are fit, there is not enough boatmen to navigate them to inaccessible pockets.

“We had requested officials concerned to deploy an adequate number of boats to carry medical teams to the cut-off villages. But we are yet to get the required number of boats. As a result, medical teams are sitting idle,” said National Rural Health Mission’s district project manager Jagadish Prasad Sahu.

“As many as 48 medical teams with 32 doctors and 139 paramedical staff are on the job to extend medical aid to the flood-affected. Our minimum requirement is 48 boats so that each of the teams could have a boat at their disposal round the clock. But this has not been the case. The services of medical teams remain underutilised because of an inadequate number of boats,” said Kendrapara’s chief district medical officer Biraj Kishore Sahu.

Even country boats were not available for use in Bari block of Jajpur district, which has remained cut off for a week now.

With additional reporting by Manoj Kar in Kendrapara and Amulya Kumar Pati in Jajpur