Odisha cabinet agrees on proposal to provide interest-free loans to unemployed youth, Rs 1,000 assistance to ration card holders

The Odisha cabinet led by the chief minister on Monday approved 27 proposals. These include interest-free loans to unemployed youth under the Swatantra Yuva Udyami (SWAYAM) scheme and one-time livelihood assistance of Rs 1,000 to ration card holders.

It has also decided to distribute two jute bags of 20kg and 10kg capacity for free. As many as 3,35,98,401 people out of 95,90,526 beneficiary households under Odisha’s Public Distribution System (PDS) will receive benefits under these two initiatives.

Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena said the state government will provide one-time assistance at a cost of Rs 95,905 crore and purchase 1,91,81,052 jute carry bags at a cost of Rs 27,869,000.

The state government will launch a new scheme Swatantra Yuva Udyami (SWAYAM) to promote self-employment among the youth of the state and the cabinet has approved a proposal in this regard.

The chief secretary said that under the scheme, the state will provide interest-free bank loans of up to Rs 1 lakh to unemployed persons in the age group of 18 to 35 years in rural and urban areas of Odisha,

Bank loans will help unemployed youth start new businesses or expand existing ones.

For rural areas, the applicant’s family must be availing the state’s Krushak Livelihood and Income Enhancement Assistance (KALIA) or Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) assistance. The government plans to cover at least 100,000 rural youth within two years.

The scheme will cost Rs 448 crore. The new scheme will be called SWAYAM (U) in urban areas.

Chief Secretary Jena said that as per the guidelines, the annual income of the applicant’s family should not exceed Rs 3 lakh.

(With inputs from Ajesh Mallick and Mahesh Nanda, Bhubaneswar)