Bhubaneswar, July 8 (IANS): The Odisha government has asked the Odisha Khadi and Village Industries Board (OKVIB) to prepare a road map to generate 60,000 jobs in the next four years, said an official on Wednesday.

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) department has asked the board to chalk out a proposal for implementation of a employment generation programme for providing employment to over 60,000 people by 2019 and furnish it to the government, said MSME additional secretary F.M. Nayak in a letter to the secretary of OKVIB.

The board has been asked to meet the target of creating 15,000 jobs every year, including 1,250 jobs every month.

The MSME department took the decision to enhance employment opportunities in the sector following the advice of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Nayak asked the board to come up with a definite strategy for promotion of village industries so that more employment opportunities for the youths can be generated for the next four years.

During that period, the department would revive 60 khadi societies. It has also been decided to promote bee farmers in the state.

The government has targetted to promote 10,000 bee farmers by 2019. The board has planned to open sales outlets in major cities and towns to promote sale of its various products.