Bhubaneswar: On completion of two years of the fifth term of his government, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik put forth the report card of his government at the Council of Ministers meeting held here Saturday.
The government had started Mo Sarkar to connect directly with the citizens. Over a period of time, there have been visible changes in the attitude and behaviour of government servants at all levels,
he said. Patnaik said his government has been putting sincere efforts for systemic and process-based changes to make administration and service delivery more citizen-friendly and technology oriented.
The state government is giving emphasis on principles of 5Ts- Transparency, Technology, Team work, Time and Transformation. Every department has adopted a transformative agenda and is working relentlessly towards achieving the goals, he said.
Stating that special focus has been given on the development of education and health, the Chief Minister said investment of over Rs 8,500 crore in development of healthcare infrastructure across the state is under progress.
The SCB Medical College and Hospital will be developed as a great institution with an investment of Rs 3,500 crore while 786 doctors and 5,137 paramedics have been recruited in the last one year, he pointed out.
As education is the key to unravel the full potential of children, transformation of 1,000 high schools has been taken up in the first phase this year.
To prepare the youth for global job market, the government has started the World Skill Centre as part of “Skilled in Odisha” programme. “Our youth will be provided quality skills in every sector so that they can compete with the best in the world.”
He claimed that Odisha continues to be a favourite investment destination and the state has attracted some of the biggest investments in the country during the Covid period. Speaking on development of sports, he said over Rs 1,000 crore worth sports development projects have been taken up, including India’s largest Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.
On agriculture and farmers’ development, he said, “We have kept our promises regarding Kalia scheme by transferring more than Rs 6,118 crore to the farmers’ accounts in last one year. With renewed vigour, our government has given strict timelines to complete the irrigation projects.” Besides, the Upper Indravati Lift Irrigation project and Lower Indravati project have been inaugurated this year, he mentioned.
Mission Shakti department has been created for women’s empowerment. To involve the Mission Shakti groups in various government activities worth Rs 5,000 crore in five years, the CM said.
“To preserve the cultural heritage of our great state, we have launched various projects for heritage conservation across the state in Puri, Konark, Samaleswari Temple, Harishankar-Nrusinganath temple etc.,” he further said.
To strengthen the Panchayati Raj institutions and ULBs, the state has transferred Rs 11,287 crore directly from the Finance Commission grants over last two years. “In spite of all the challenges, we are quite confident that we will emerge victorious in this crisis with the cooperation of the people of the state, and continue to carry forward the good work for the transformation of Odisha,” he added.
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