Dikhyaa Mohanty 
As many as 24 decisions were taken pertaining to different departments at the state Cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Naveen Patnaik. The important decisions included the construction of the Parbati Giri mega lift irrigation project with an outlay of Rs 10,759.20 crore for creating additional irrigation potential of 2,63,801 hectares to provide irrigation to Kharif crops.
According to the reports, the proposal for the construction of 12 mega pipe water supply schemes in Kalahandi, Malkangiri, Balasore, Gajpati, Kandhamal and Koraput with around Rs 1800 crore was also approved at the meeting. The Cabinet took the decision to formulate the Odisha Artisan Grade Stone Policy 2021 to help the artisans get grade stone. The policy will ensure demand-supply estimation, identification of stone sources, extraction and supply of stone to artisan users of different categories.
Besides, the Cabinet approved a proposal to amend the Industrial Policy Resolution 2015 by the addition of a section to provide special incentives to the New Age Mega Industries. The proposal for job reservation for para-athletes that was approved provides more avenues of employment in the Group-A, Group-B and Group-C levels of the departments and PSUs by relaxing the conditions in the recruitment rules.
