BHUBANESWAR: After launching a series of schemes named after Biju, the ruling BJD is all set to roll out Biju Gramin Setu Yojana (BGSY) next year if things go as planned. The objective is to provide all-weather connectivity in rural areas facing communication problems during monsoon. Plans are afoot to take up 300 small bridges (above 25 metres) under the scheme in the first phase with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore. Proposals for the new bridges will be prepared by December and the same will be submitted to Nabard for funding from the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). Official sources said the proposed scheme would give priority to areas where maximum number of people could be benefited. Details are being worked out to give a final shape to the scheme, the sources said. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the Biju KBK Yojana in 2006 with an annual outlay of Rs 120 crore over and above the normal Plan allocation to the KBK after the Centre reduced the special Central assistance under the Revived Long Term Action Plan (RLTAP) from ` 250 crore to ` 130 crore. The same year, the Government also launched another State scheme called Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana (GGY) and provided additional fund for development of roads, supply of drinking water and electricity to the 11 districts which are not covered under the Backward Region Grants Fund (BRGF). After the Biju KBK Yojana and Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana, the Government launched the Biju Gramya Jyoti Yojana (BGJY) in 2007-08 to provide electricity to villages which were not covered under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutkaran Yojana (RGGVY). Under the State scheme, the Government is providing ` 1 crore to each block and the target is to provide electricity to about 10,000 villages during the 11th Plan with an investment of ` 1,000 crore from the State exchequer. After coming to power in 2000 in alliance with the BJP, the Government launched the Biju Krushak Vikash Yojana to maximise the irrigation potential through pani panchayats. The objective of the Government was to irrigate an additional 2.4 lakh hectares of agricultural land during the five-year period from 2000. However, it is another matter that the Government could not achieve the objective. In a bid to give a boost to health services delivery mechanism, the State Government has decided to launch Biju Swasthya Yojana next month. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik would roll out the programme from Sundargarh district. The programme envisages conduct of mega health camps in the rural and remote pockets to provide health check-up as well as treatment to a cross-section of society.
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