Odisha includes four new clusters under Rurban Mission

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government included four new rural areas under the Rurban Mission increasing the number of clusters to 14 from 10 in the scheme.

The new clusters were Kuanrmunda of Sundergarh district, Marichmal of Koraput district, Puttasingh of Rayagada district and Raibania of Balasore district.

The move came at a State Level Empowerment Committee meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi at State Secretariat here on Saturday.

The government has estimated around Rs 305.65 crore for economic development of these four new areas.

Padhi directed the Panchayatraj department to lay emphasis on the projects like economic infrastructure, skill development, agro-processing units, inter-village connectivity, digital connectivity, pipe water supply, solid waste management, sanitation, street lights, health services, sustainable livelihood, citizen service centres and LPG connections to each household in the proposed cluster of villages.

The government has decided that the projects worth Rs 230.34 crore will be implemented through convergence of various government programmes and schemes. The balance amount of Rs 75.30 crore will be shared by the Centre and State Government on 60:40 basis as Critical Gap Funding (CGF), Panchayatiraj Secretary DK Singh said.