Odisha Govt extend Aahar cheap meal scheme to 29 districts

The Odisha government today decided to extend its 'Aahar' cheap meal scheme for urban poor to 29 out of the 30 districts in the state.
The decision in this regard was taken at a high level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Barring Sambalpur, 57 Aahar centres would be opened in urban areas of 29 districts. As many as 30,300 meals would be prepared in these centres every day, said Housing and Urban development minister Pushpendra Singhdeo.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directed District Collectors through video conferencing to set up the centres within the February 15 deadline.
Patnaik asked the Collectors to complete necessary infrastructure facilities including transportation, training, sanitation, drinking water and all other allied infrastructure.

"Almost all districts have expedited their programmes like choosing partners to implementing agencies. The Chief Minister also directed the Collectors to resolve whatever issues came in the way of implementation of the programme," Singhdeo said.

After infrastructure facilities were completed and identification of agencies/organisations were over, the Chief Minister would take a decision when the Aahar centres would open for the public, Singhdeo said.
Aahar was a subsidised meal scheme of the state government for the urban poor in the state and Aahar centres provide cooked lunch comprising 'Bhata and Dalma' at the rate of Rs 5 between 11 AM to 3 PM at specific locations.

The scheme was launched simultaneously in Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Cuttack, Berhampur and Sambalpur in the first phase on April 1, 2015.
The Aahar scheme was presently being sponsored by Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) in Rourkela and Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) in Sambalpur.
Tata Steel was supporting the scheme in Berhampur.