Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday launched a week-long campaign to boost the market availability of indigenous products manufactured in the State’s underdeveloped and backward regions. Majhi launched the ‘Akanksha Haat Abhiyan’ during a felicitation function organised by the Planning and Convergence department of the State government.

The Odisha government’s ‘Aspirational District and Block Programme’ focuses on implementing the scheme at the grassroots level, he said. Work is underway towards achieving the goals of inclusive development through socio-economic indicators based on health and nutrition, education, agriculture, water resources, financial inclusion and skill development, he said.

Majhi said after the district level, work on the programme has now been extended to the block level. “The quality of life of the people in remote and underdeveloped blocks is being improved and better services provided to them,” he said. “I am very happy to announce that the week-long ‘Akanksha Haat Abhiyan’ is being launched to take the ‘Akanksha Brand’ at the grassroots level,” Majhi said. He said the drive will increase the market availability of locally produced products in remote and underdeveloped areas of Odisha.

“The economic condition of local self-help groups, farmers, artisans and weavers will improve and their products will be available to consumers at affordable and fair prices,” Majhi said. Such products will also be made available at digital marketplaces, he said.

As part of the ceremony, the Chief Minister felicitated the best-performing aspirational districts and blocks in the State. The awards were presented based on performance indicators in health and nutrition, education, agriculture, water resources, financial inclusion and skill development. Congratulating the award-winning teams, Majhi remarked, “It is a matter of pride that all our aspirational districts have consistently ranked among top performers in various domains. Ten districts together have earned performance-based incentives totaling Rs 165 crore.”

The Chief Minister highlighted that the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP), launched nationally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2018, and the Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP), introduced in January 2023, have both seen notable success in Odisha. The State currently has 10 aspirational districts under ADP and 29 blocks in 16 districts under ABP.