“ORMAS is in the hearts of the people”: Minister Shri Rabi Narayan Naik

Bhubaneswar : A two-day review meeting of the plans and programs of ORMAS begun in the SIRD, Bhubaneswar campus today. Chairing the review meeting Hon’ble Minister for Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water, Rural Development Shri Rabi Narayan Naik inspired the attendees to strive hard to make ORMAS the next big brand of the state.

Addressing the two-day review meeting, Hon’ble Minister discussed the need to align the functioning of ORMAS with the changing times and set targets in sync with modern times. On this occasion, Shri Naik said that over the years, ORMAS has demonstrated a strong commitment to strengthening livelihoods through a combination of industry promotion, market linkages and capacity building and has empowered rural producers and artisans with year-round market access, thereby creating sustainable income streams.Referring to the credibility of the organizations and its products Shri Naik said, “ ORMAS is in the hearts of the people and we have to live up to that trust and expectations”.

Discussing the future goals of ORMAS, Hon’ble MinisterShri Naik directed to give importance to innovation. Discussing different aspects like development of better cropping protocol, high quality local products, post-harvest classification, storage, packaging, marketing he emphasized on the huge employment opportunities at each level. Shri Naik expressed that the main goal of ORMAS should be to make Odisha self-sufficient in onion, potato, turmeric, chilli, pine apples, potato, maize etc as per the agro-climatic regions of various districts of Odisha and strengthen the rural economy of the state through further processing and marketing. Along with this, Shri Naikstressed upon development of local processing units and promoting an entrepreneurial cycle in convergence mode to be the main pillar of ORMAS’s approach towards rural development.

In this review meeting, Chief Executive Officer, ORMASShri Chakravarti Singh Rathore discussed in detailabout the various works of ORMAS and the next steps to be taken. Thedistrict level officers of ORMAS, apprised Hon’ble Minister about various successes and next steps of ORMAS at the district level through power point presentations. Amongst others, Additional Chief Executive Officer, Shri Sanjeev Kumar Singh and other senior officers participated in the meeting.

Binayaka Mishra – Public Relations Officer

Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Dept