Arup Patnaik appointed Executive Chairman of Odisha Youth Welfare Board

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today appointed former Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik as Executive Chairman of the State Youth Welfare Board.

The former Mumbai top cop, who joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) last month, will look after Biju Yuva Vahini programme of the State government.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced the former Mumbai top cop’s appointment through a tweet

CM @Naveen_Odisha appointed Arup Patnaik as Executive Chairman, State Youth Welfare Board. The board will be looking after the Biju Yuva Vahini Programme.

— CMO Odisha (@CMO_Odisha) May 8, 2018

With his appointment as Executive Chairman of the Board, Patnaik will enjoy the rank of a Minister of State (MoS).

Notably, the State Cabinet on March 14 had approved the launch of Biju Yuva Vahini under Biju Shashtrikaran Yojana with an objective to nurture leadership and volunteerism, promote sports and sportsmanship and healthy living among youth.

The government has planned to recruit youths for 8,000 units of Biju Yuva Vahini in 6,800 gram panchayats and 120 urban local bodies to channelise their energy towards nation building.

Persons in the age group of 15 to 35 years are being taken in as Biju Yuva Vahini members, one-third of which will be women.