Odishatv Bureau
Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday unveiled the Odisha State Youth Policy (OSYP) 2013 to address the problems of young people (15-35 years) who constitute about 42% of the state’s population. While the official stated reason behind such a policy is to “enable, engage and empower the youth in channelizing their energies for building a vibrant and prosperous Odisha”, the Opposition sees a clear political motive as such a policy was unveiled to woo the young voters before the 2014 polls.

The highlights of the OSYP 2013 are:

1.     In each district a youth counseling centre will be opened by restructuring the employment exchange through public private partnership (PPP) model. A single window system will provide access to information for young people pertaining to education, scholarship, employment and entrepreneurship.

2.     In all government universities, a “Student Advisory Bureau” will be opened to guide students on higher education and career counseling.

3.     All meritorious students at plus two level will be provided with free laptops.

4.     Students belonging to ST and SC communities and those belonging to BPL families passing secondary school will also be given laptop with prepaid data card on a merit basis at the block level.

5.     The safety and security of girls and women being one of the highest priorities of the government, systems and structures will be strengthened to address violence against women such as domestic violence, sexual harassment, rape, dowry and trafficking.

6.     Mission Yuva Shakti—a SHG scheme for rural male youth will be initiated on the lines of Mission Shakti. This will aim to cover young men engaged in agriculture and allied sector for technology, credit and subsidiary support.

7.     An Odisha Youth Innovation Fund will be created towards promoting innovative entrepreneurship among youth. Further, a Young Entrepreneurship Development Agency (YEDA) will be established to initiate specialized entrepreneurship training programmes in the accredited universities through linkages with reputed national institutions.
 

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