Bhubaneswar, Sep 21: The Odisha government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SELCO Foundation to strengthen inclusive and sustainable development in Southern Odisha.
The MoU was signed in between Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water Secretary Girish S N and Chief Finance Officer (CFO), SELCO Foundation, VK Joby in the presence of Chief Secretary Anu Garg. The initial focus of the collaboration will be on Kalahandi, Rayagada, Gajapati, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri.
The collaboration will seek to strengthen existing government schemes and programmes through technical expertise, innovation, capacity building, knowledge, partnerships and implementation support, officials said.
“For a Vikshit Odisha 2036 and a Vikshit Bharat 2047, we have three main pillars: prosperity, well-being, and equity. For achieving prosperity, healthy human resources and equal opportunities and inclusive development for all sections of society are essential,” said Chief Secretary Garg.
Therefore, health and equality are the two inseparable foundations of prosperity. Moving forward in a coordinated manner in these three aspects was given top governance priority to build a prosperous, healthy, and equal-opportunity-based Odisha, she said.
In this context, the Chief Secretary mentioned that the MoU signed today will help accelerate inclusive and sustainable development in the aforementioned districts of southern Odisha. She has also instructed that the progress of related programmes under the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department should be reviewed monthly, with review meetings at the Chief Secretary’s level held twice a year.
Key areas of collaboration will include sustainable livelihoods and local economic development, healthcare and nutrition, clean energy, climate-resilient development, tribal knowledge and innovation, skill development and entrepreneurship.
The initiative will involve coordination with the Panchayati Raj, Health and other relevant departments, as well as district administrations. Existing government schemes and programmes will be strengthened through convergence, technical expertise, technology, innovation and capacity building.
Special focus will be placed on strengthening livelihoods and enterprise opportunities for farmers, women, SHGs, FPOs, youth, artisans, tribal communities, persons with disabilities and rural micro-entrepreneurs through skills, productive-use technologies, access to finance and government schemes, market linkages and value addition.
A key component of the collaboration will be the proposed SEVA Hubs- Centres for Expertise and Enablers for Rural Transformation. These locally anchored platforms will support identification of local needs, programme design, convergence, capacity building, access to technology and finance, implementation support, knowledge management and scaling of successful solutions.
The MoU will remain in force for five years. Specific projects and initiatives will be developed separately based on their requirements. By bringing together community participation, technology, innovation and technical expertise, the partnership seeks to create new opportunities for sustainable development in Southern Odisha.
