Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Food and Nutrition Security/ Mid Day Meal Scheme/ ICDS/ PDS | Govt readies Aahar for one lakh people -Subhashish Mohanty

Govt readies Aahar for one lakh people -Subhashish Mohanty

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Dec 29, 2015   modified Modified on Dec 29, 2015
-The Telegraph

Bhubaneswar: The Naveen Patnaik government has decided to extend the cheap lunch scheme - Aahar - to all the district headquarters and 16 select urban local bodies from March 1.

The government now plans to provide the cheap meals to nearly one lakh people across the state in the first phase, sources said.

The move will coincide with the launch of centenary celebrations of Biju Patnaik. Final touches to the plan of extending Aahar will be given at a review meeting to be chaired by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, official sources told The Telegraph.

Priced at Rs 5, the meals are now being provided to more than 22,000 people across 21 centres in five cities - Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Berhampur and Rourkela. The scheme, which was launched on April 1 this year, operates from centres opened at government hospitals, bus stands and railway stations. Rice and dalma (vegetables mixed with dal) are the two staple items for the meals served hot between 11am and 3pm every day.

"For the extension of the scheme, we held discussions with district collectors through videoconferencing on December 23. Details will be discussed at the review meeting of the chief minister tomorrow. Issues such as who would share the extra financial burden entailed by the expansion of the scheme, would be decided later," said an official.

At present, the scheme is being financed by state-run public sector undertakings such as the Odisha Mining Corporation, Odisha Power Generation Corporation and the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco). They came to the rescue of the government after central public sector units such as Nalco and the MCL backed out at the last moment. The cost per meal for the PSUs financing the scheme is Rs 15.

While Opposition leader Narasingha Mishra refused to comment on the move saying he would wait for a formal launch by the chief minister, state BJP spokesperson Suresh Pujari said: "The government should first raise the living standards of the poor, so that they don't have to ask for sops. They should be provided with employment."

BJD spokesperson Samir Dash said: "There is no politics here. We've taken a policy decision, so that poor people in other parts of the state also benefit from the scheme."

The Aahar scheme had been launched on April 1 this year, apparently inspired by the Amma Unavagams (Amma canteens) project of the Jayalalithaa government. In Tamil Nadu, cheap breakfast and meals are available at 294 Amma Unavagam outlets run by municipal corporations across the state. While in Odisha, the cheap meals constitute only rice and dalma, there is more variety on the menu in Tamil Nadu.

Politics has been at the centre of Aahar scheme since its inception. At one stage, the project even pitted the state government against the Centre. When the central public sector units located in Odisha refused to entertain the state government's request to provide money for the scheme, BJD leaders had even accused the two Union ministers from Odisha - Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan - of playing a role in scuttling state's plan to rope in the support of the MCL and Nalco.
 
The Telegraph, 29 December, 2015, please click here to access

The Telegraph, 29 December, 2015, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1151229/jsp/frontpage/story_60990.jsp#.VoH9ElI1t_k


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close