The Odisha Cabinet on Friday approved nine key proposals including the hike in pension amount for the Persons with Disabilities and elderly persons of 80 years of age or above.

The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi here on Friday.

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“State Cabinet have approved the proposal to enhance the pension amount of the eligible pensioners aged 80 years and above or PwDs having disability percentage of 80 per cent and above under both Madhu Babu Pension Yojana and National Social Assistance Programme to Rs 3,500 per month with effect from January 2025,” a press note issued by the state government read.

In another significant decision, the state Cabinet on Friday gave its nod to the proposal allowing the state government to stand as guarantee for the new loans to be availed by the Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSC) Ltd.

It is pertinent here to mention that OSCSC, the Implementing Agency (IA) of Paddy Procurement operations and Public Distribution System (PDS) on behalf of the Odisha government, makes the payment of MSP to the farmers within 24 to 48 hours of the purchase of paddy.

The OSCSC Ltd also makes the payment to millers to get the Custom Milled Rice (CMR) out of the procured paddy.

The OSCSC Ltd. incurs all these expenditures by borrowing loans from banks and repays after release of subsidy from the Government of India.

“Considering the public interest works of paddy procurement operations and Public Distribution System works are being done by the OSCSC Ltd. on behalf of the Odisha Government, the Cabinet has approved the Provision of Government Guarantee for the new bank loans to be taken by the OSCSC Ltd,” added the press statement.

As per the press brief, the Government Guarantee of Rs 17,500 crore is provided for the new loans to be taken by the OSCSC Ltd. for a period of five years.

The Odisha Cabinet in its meeting also approved a proposal to provide additional subsidies for the solar rooftop systems under the Pradhan Mantri Suryaghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (free electricity scheme) (PMSG: MBY) in the state.

The state government has decided to provide an additional subsidy of Rs 25,000 per Kilowatt up to two kilowatts and an additional Rs 10,000 for third kilowatt under the PM-Surya Ghar scheme.

The Union government is providing a subsidy of 60 per cent of the solar unit cost for systems up to 2kW capacity and 40 per cent of additional system cost for systems between 2 to 3kW capacity under the PM-Surya Ghar scheme.

This apart, the Odisha Cabinet also approved several other key proposals of different departments during the meeting held on Friday.