Naveen-Modi Discussion; International Airport at Puri
Bureau,Odishabarta
No Third Front, No political discussions with PM Narendra Modi , says Odisha CM after the meeting. Naveen discussed Odisha’s demands
Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today discussed some of the key demands of Odisha with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The subjects of discussion include Shree Jagannath International Airport in Puri, Udyami Scheme, National Highway Projects and Opening of more bank branches in rural areas.
During the discussion, the CM urged Modi to expedite Puri Airport (SJIA) which is pending at the end of Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Patnaik also requested him to extend the ‘Údyami’ scheme and provision of five free connections in each GP for Bharat Net Phase II.
“Further, a DPR was prepared for extending Bharat Net from the GPs to the villages and submitted to DOT No decision on the matter has been taken so far. Also the DPR for converting the Bharat Net linear network to an IPMPLS ring network and extending the same to districts and state capital, submitted by the state to the DOT, has been regretted. Decision for IPMPLS need to be taken by the DOT for the state of Odisha which is frequented by natural calamities like flood, cyclone,” the CM said.
There are as many as eight National Highway projects that are yet to be completed though many have started in 2017 and 2018, he added.
The CM also requested the Prime Minister for opening of more bank branches in unbanked GPs of the State.
“Odisha has 6798 GPs, out of which 2844 GPs (42%) are covered by 5774 Brick & Mortar branches. Rest 3954 GPs (58%) are covered by BCs / CSPs & IPPB Access Points. Although Business Correspondents (BCs) are put in place, they often face cash crunch leading to non-withdrawal of cash by beneficiaries,” Patnaik pointed out.
Department of Financial Services may put in place a two-year plan for covering all unbanked GPs of the State by bank branches.
However, in order to avoid inconvenience to those elderly and disabled persons who are unable to visit the bank / BC points for receiving cash, relaxation may be granted for disbursement of pension in cash to maximum of 20% of the beneficiaries under NSAP, he maintained.
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