Bhubaneswar: ” A better collaboration with various UN agencies could help in improving socio-economic indicators and empowerment of women in the state”, the Odisha chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, said here on Saturday.
Patnaik, who was called on by a delegation of various UN agencies like UN Staff College, UN Women, and United Nations Population Fund, told the visiting delegates that the state government has taken various measures to empower about 5 million women trhough half a million Self-help Groups(SHGs).
The chief minister said Odisha has emerged as a leader in bringing 8 million people above poverty line with a reduction of 24 percentage point in poverty levels in a decade. Odisha is also a leading state in the country in providing housing to the poor, he added.
The “Mamata” scheme has increased the institutional delivery and benefited 3.1 million pregnant women, he said adding that the state government has succeeded reducing infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate down below the national average.
Patnaik the state government has created institutional frame work for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
