Para-athletes in Odisha to get govt jobs; State Cabinet approves proposal

Bhubaneswar: In order to promote sports and persons who excel in the field, the Odisha government today decided to provide employment opportunities to sportspersons and para-sportspersons.

It was decided in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik that more avenues of employment will be provided to para-sportspersons and sportspersons in the Group-A, Group-B and Group-C of different departments. Also, they get employment opportunities in State Public Sector Undertakings.

The conditions for entry will be relaxed and amendments in the recruitment rules will be carried out, if necessary, Chief Secretary SC Mahapatra said after the Cabinet meeting.

When such athletes are given due recognition by the State Government, they can serve as models for youngsters to emulate and do better in the field of sports, he added.

The Cabinet also approved 550 new projects under the Biju Setu Yojana scheme in addition to completion of 396 ongoing projects. The scheme will be implemented with an outlay of Rs 5,182 crore over a period of three years i.e. from 2021-22 to 2023-24. The Rural Development Department will execute the projects.

The Cabinet approved the lowest tender of M/s Blue Star – SPML Infra JV, Mumbai worth Rs 126.51 crore for execution of the Mega Piped Water Supply Project to provide safe drinking water in Balasore District. Around 1,67,444 people of 144 villages under 20 gram panchayats of Baliapal block of the district will be provided with safe drinking water.

Also, the Cabinet gave its approval for reduction of VAT from 32% to 28% on petrol and from 28% to 24% on diesel with effective from November 6, 2021 under the Odisha VAT Act, 2004.

As many as 24 proposals were approved in today’s Cabinet meeting.