Odisha to provide free sanitary pads to school girls

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government today approved ‘Khushi’ Yojana among 28 proposals at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat.

Under the ‘Khushi’ scheme, the State Government will provide free sanitary pads to girl students of government schools, government-aided schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas from Class-VI to XII. For this, Rs 466.08 crore will be spent in five years which will benefit 17.25 lakh girl students.

Others important approvals include:

• Four mega lift-irrigation projects of Water Resources Department.
• KALIA Chhatra Bruti Yojana.
• Two piped water supply projects under Basudha scheme.
• Rs 3,000 crore bank guarantee to GRIDCO.
• Provision of night meals at Aahar centres.
• Regularisation of appointment of Staff Nurses, Pharmacists and ANMs who have completed six years of service.
• Smartphones for women under Mission Shakti.
• Interest-free loans upto Rs 3 lakh for SHGs.
• Increase of age-limit to 40 from 32 for recruitment of Homeopathic doctors.