Chief Secretary Anu Garg chaired the Odisha Livelihood Mission’s (OLM) fifth steering committee meeting, which took place today at Lok Seva Bhavan.Garg focused on boosting rural families’ income and enhancing women’s financial empowerment through the effective execution of livelihood initiatives. She suggested that attempts be made to apply new concepts, develop continuously, and implement more successfully and efficiently.
She emphasized the need to keep working to ensure that as many self-help groups as possible function well as small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and to inspire other groups by modeling successful SHG SMEs. The Chief Secretary instructed that livelihood initiatives be given top priority in regions where PM-Janman and Gramodaya programs are being carried out, and that every stage be completed successfully. Additionally, she recommended that all livelihood programs be regularly monitored.
The implementation of the decisions made at the 4th Steering Committee meeting, which took place on September 10, 2025, was discussed at the start of the meeting. The 6th Executive Committee meeting was also reported to the Steering Committee. Gram Panchayat Level Society (GPLSS) registration was another topic of discussion during the meeting.Dr. Monika Priyadarshini, State Mission Director and CEO of the Mission Shakti Department, gave a presentation on several OLM programs. SHG families’ inclusion under OLM, the development of forums at the cluster and gram panchayat levels, the supply of revolving money to SHGs, bank linkage goals, and loan availability were all examined.
It was highlighted that more than 1 lakh (84%) members are engaged in farm livelihood activities, while more than 2 lakh members are engaged in service livelihood activities and 2.3 lakh are engaged in non-farm activities.
SHGs are receiving more loan help than in the past. In 2024, the average loan amount was Rs 4 lakh; by 2026, it had risen to Rs 5.96 lakh. Through SHG-bank connections, up to 5.95 lakh SHGs have received loan support totaling Rs 75,116 crore. They are benefiting from increased livelihood activities, industry development, and financial empowerment as a result. A total of Rs 7,997 crore in financial help has been given to almost 1.70 lakh enterprises.
The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department Usha Padhee, Commissioner of Urban Development Deoranjan Kumar Singh, Commissioners and Secretaries of Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water, Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts and Mission Shakti departments, Director of Integrated Child Development and Social Welfare and senior officers of concerned departments.
