By Our Correspondent
SAMBALPUR/BHUBANESWAR:Improving the lives of the poor and common people is our priority. With this aim, special emphasis is being given to providing basic amenities to 3 lakh families and 15 lakh people living in Sambalpur district and their education, health, employment and livelihood, said Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan.
On Monday, Shri Pradhan inaugurated the Subhadra Shakti, Fisheries and Livestock and Agricultural Equipment Fair – 2026 organized at Ainthapali, Sambalpur and handed over the benefits of government schemes to the beneficiaries. On this occasion, he outlined the vision of the Double Engine Government to strengthen the economic condition of the farmers of Sambalpur through agriculture and allied sectors. The Union Minister said that the main goal of our Double Engine Government is to take forward the agricultural economy of the district by following this vision of “Prosperous Farmers, Prosperous Sambalpur”. Since Sambalpur is an agricultural district, special incentives and government assistance are being provided to fish and dairy farmers along with general farming. Assistance has been provided for the construction of a new godown with the help of MCL. There are plans to produce milk powder, curd and other milk products from the Omfed plant in Sambalpur. This will benefit the local farmers immensely.
Emphasizing on the paddy procurement process, Shri Pradhan informed that till now more than 31 lakh quintals of paddy have been purchased by the Central and State Governments in the district. The State Government has distributed tokens to the farmers to purchase the remaining 1 lakh quintals of paddy. Along with this, efforts are being made to make the youth self-reliant in this sector by providing loan assistance worth crores of rupees under the ‘Krishi Udyami’ scheme.
Shri Pradhan said that to strengthen the transportation system of the district, various projects are being implemented by PWD and RD at an estimated cost of about Rs. 3,500 crore in the next two years. Including the Ring Road project being implemented in Sambalpur, the development of road infrastructure, construction of overbridges and ancillary works at various places are being completed on a war footing.
Similarly, not only for local development, but also to take Sambalpur’s intellectual and labor force to the global stage, with the help of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), youth in the hospitality sector are being selected and sent to countries like Japan and Denmark. We are committed to improving the lifestyle of every family and developing Sambalpur as a prosperous and modern district by maintaining coordination between the Agriculture, Horticulture, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry departments, said Shri Pradhan.
On the occasion of the fair, Shri Pradhan launched some ambulance services and distributed high-milk yielding cows to farmers as part of MCL’s CSR initiative.
