Bhubaneswar, April 23 (PTI) The Odisha Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday approved Rs 108 crore for the construction of the integrated Anandapur Barrage Project in Keonjhar district.

The decision was among six major proposals cleared across five departments.

Briefing the media, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja said the project, under the Water Resources Department, aims to provide irrigation to 60,000 hectares in Keonjhar and Balasore districts.

The current proposal covers a segment of the larger project, focused on creating irrigation potential for 2,221 hectares under the Baitarani Left Bank Canal (BLBC) and Baitarani Right Bank Canal (BRBC) systems.

The project will use an underground pipeline network to serve a total of 3,450 hectares of culturable command area in Keonjhar, Ahuja said.

The project’s deadline is 18 months.

In another major decision, the cabinet approved an amendment to the Odisha Children’s and Women’s Welfare Service Rules, 1989, raising the minimum educational qualification for appointment as an ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) supervisor.

Under the revised rules, an anganwadi worker must now hold a graduate degree or its equivalent from a recognised university, up from the previous Class 10 qualification. The change will apply only to fresh appointments.

The state government also announced a restructuring of the Odisha Subordinate Welfare Service and Odisha Welfare Service cadres. This includes the creation of 24 new posts across various ranks to improve administrative efficiency.

The cabinet also approved the proposal of the Health and Family Welfare Department to allocate Rs 2398.45 crore for 108 Emergency Medical Ambulance Service (EMAS) for a period of five years from 2023-24 to 2027-28, he added.

Besides, two proposals of the Excise Department on recruitment of constables and exemption of extra hour operation fees for distilleries, bottling units and brewery units were approved by the cabinet. PTI BBM BBM MNB