Bhubaneswar: A two-day State Level Conference of District Welfare Officers (DWOs) and PA-ITDAs was inaugurated by Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Minister Nityananda Gond at SCSTRTI on Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister asked the officers to expedite infrastructure development of 450 hostels of residential schools and develop 100-seated hostels in areas sans hostels for ST and SC students on war-footing basis. He also directed them to implement Parichiti scheme at 99 schools across the State to create awareness about tribal students on their own art, culture and languages and provisioning of tutors for hostels under Anwesha scheme to facilitate English medium education among ST and SC students.
The Minister called upon the DWOs to be alert and work dedicatedly for the academic and intellectual development of the tribal kids ensuring better health and hygiene. He asked the officers to ensure that mosquito nets are supplied to every kid staying in a residential hostel across Odisha as malaria and dengue have once again trying to spread their tentacles.
Saying that for a “Vikshit Odisha” and a people-friendly government as conceived by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, it is pertinent for all to have the willingness to work for the people’s requirements and demands, the Minister also advised the district-level officials to take on the hard tasks with enough willpower so that good things could be delivered down the line in a quicker way.
The Minister also unveiled three books such as “Lets Talk Safety” on good and bad touch and awareness among the girl boarders on teenage pregnancies and other issues (guidelines for headmasters), “Tribal Cuisines of Odisha” on the rich culinary traditions of the tribal and PVTG communities of Odisha and “Documentation of Good Practices” of SCSTRTI published by the department.
The conference, moderated by Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Department Roopa Roshan Sahoo, dealt with the amenities and entitlements in residential schools and hostels, HR issues relating to staffing pattern and the problems faced by the institutions, students’ admission, EMRS, Anwesha, issues faced by boarders in hostels for girls and boys, utilization of funds, untoward incidents, their tracking and monitoring, coordination between ITDAs, government line departments and Central PSU who have taken the construction work for infrastructure development, district-level review meetings and gap analysis.
Director of SCSTRTI Indramani Tripathy was also present.