Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the launch of Shubhadra scheme in Odisha, the State Government has directed the Collectors of ten districts to seek opinion regarding it from stakeholders.

In a letter to the Collectors of Angul, Balangir, Balasore, Ganjam, Khordha, Cuttack, Keonjhar, Koraput, Puri and Sambalpur, ICDS & SW Director Monisha Banarjee asked the officials to conduct meeting with the stakeholders on or before 14th August and submit the proceedings to the Women & Child Development Department.

"A stakeholders' consultation meeting is to be organized across different locations for obtaining views/ opinions from the participants like Social Workers, Intelligentsia, Members from SHG District Federation, Local Public Representative etc. The suggestions received from the said consultations will be examined for feasibility of their incorporation in the policy documents of Subhadra Jojana," said Banarjee in the letter.

"These meetings should be conducted on or before 14th August. The concerned MP of the district should be invited to the meeting for consultation. The proceedings of the meeting are to be submitted to the W & CD department for examination and consideration for preparation of Subhadra Jojana policy documents," she said.

"The expenditure on the meeting should be limited to Rs 60,000 including the cost of refreshments and documentation. The said expenditure will be met from the available contingency funds at DSWO level," she added.

Speaking about the scheme, Deputy Chief Minister Prabhati Parida said, "Once the SOP is finalized, the number of beneficiaries will be determined. The government has also sought feedback to simplify the application process. Efforts are being made to enable applications via mobile links."

Parida refuted the ongoing rumors about the scheme and confirmed that it will be launched on September 17th.