Governance  

Grand Green goal set up by state government

In the second phase of Odisha Forestry Sector Development Project (OFSDP),the Odisha Government aims to develop 4.8 lakh hectares (ha) of degraded forest into dense forest and 50,000 ha of farm forestry in 15 forest divisions of 18 districts entailing a cost of Rs 1739.50 crore. The State Government shall contribute Rs 200 crore .The project will be rolled out from 2018-19 which will extend over a period of 10 years. At the village level,initiatives will be taken to create new avenues of income generation to provide alternative livelihood  to local people.This will benefit around 3000 Vana Surakhya Samitis (VSS) and 10,000 self-help groups (SHGs)The commendable first Phase-I of the externally aided project resulted in development of  2.10 lakh ha of degraded forest in 11 forest divisions of 10 districts. For the first phase the state government received an assistance of Rs 1509.50 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency.