Naveen Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 7: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today announced that one lakh women self-help groups would be provided with Rs 1,000 crore in the form of loans under the Odisha Livelihood Mission.

Presiding over the first governing body meeting of the mission, Naveen said: “Under the mission programme, provision has been made to reduce the interest burden. The state government has rationalised interest subvention by reducing it to 2 per cent per annum for all self-help groups, who pay their dues on time. This step will certainly motivate more poor women to come into the self-help groups’ fold and access formal credit.”

The governing body has also decided to provide placement-linked skill development facilities to unemployed rural youth. “We have a target to train 50,000 rural youth and place at least 75 per cent of them in the organised sector,” he said.

The Odisha Livelihood Mission is now implementing the Targeted Rural Initiatives for Poverty Termination (Tripti) and the National Rural Livelihoods Mission. More than 50 lakh poor households in the state have already been organised into women self-help groups through the Mission Shakti movement. “Based on the success of Tripti and Mission Shakti, the state government will implement the National Rural Livelihoods Mission in a phased manner. The entire state will be covered under this scheme over a period of five years,” an official said.

Under this mission, Rs 163.79 crore had been allocated for 2012-13, of which Rs 94.84 crore was spent. In 2013-14, Rs 38.46 crore has been released and Rs 6.22 crore of that has been spent.

In another programme celebrating the 59th wildlife week, Naveen said: “Eco-tourism needs to be given a special thrust as it provides huge employment opportunities for local forest dwellers. Under the integrated coastal zone management project, special emphasis has been given for creation of livelihood opportunities through eco-tourism and alternative livelihood options.”

The chief minister also said the Similipal Tiger Reserve and the Sunabeda sanctuary, which were earlier affected by Maoists attacks, are returning to normality.