Seeking immediate release of Rs 137 crore under NREGA for the state, Orissa government today asked the Centre to include all disadvantaged groups like HIV positive people in the proposed census for BPL, official sources said.
The demands were made by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who earlier in the day met Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj minister C P Joshi at New Delhi.
The proposed census for BPL should be so structured as to include all the disadvantaged groups such as primitive tribes, the women-headed householdS, daily wage earners, physically challeneged groups besides the HIV positive patients, Patnaik told Joshi, according to an official release issued by the chief minister's office (CMO) here.
Stating that the state government had already issued direction to its officials to include the disadvantaged groups, Patnaik said that they should be treated as genuine beneficiaries.
The chief minister said NREGA had a positive impact on the lives of lakhs of people in the poorest districts in Orissa and helped in creating durable assets and infrastructure to strengthen the livelihood resource base for the rural poor, the release said.