Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Wednesday said former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee through his work and decisive actions had shown the country the path of rapid development.
On the occasion of Good Governance Day, observed to mark the birth anniversary of Vajpayee, Majhi said the former prime minister has played an important role in adding a new chapter of development in the country and also in Odisha.
“The big projects, like the construction of the golden quadrilateral and road network to villages under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, show his developmental work while decisive actions like Pokhran-II and Kargil war speak about his courage,” he said.
Vajpayee had laid the foundation stone for the establishment of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, the oil refinery at Paradip and the creation of the East Coast Railway (ECoR) division and its headquarters in Bhubaneswar in 2003 during the tenure of the former PM, the chief minister said.
Vajpayee had also given official recognition to Santhali, a tribal language of Odisha, by including it under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, Majhi said.
He pointed out that the former prime minister had also stood tall with the people of Odisha when the state was devastated by a supercyclone in 1999.
At that time, he had visited Odisha and assured that there would be no dearth of funds to recoup the state from the disaster.
“Inspired by Vajpayee, the double-engine government has been working tirelessly to build a new, developed and prosperous Odisha,” he said.
The term “double engine” is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a state.
During the past six months, Majhi said his government has taken several major decisions, including reopening of four gates of Jagannath temple of Puri, setting up of corpus fund for the temple, extending financial assistance to women under the ‘Subhadra Yojana’ and procuring paddy at a rate of Rs 3,100 per quintal.
The chief minister said the state has also initiated a process to fill up 1.5 lakh vacant government posts.
On this occasion, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan unveiled a statue of Vajpayee at Burla in Sambalpur district, while state Minister K C Mohapatra inaugurated another statue of the former PM at Udala in Mayurbhanj district.
To mark the day, the state unit of BJP felicitated four eminent persons with ‘Atal Samman’.
The chief minister along with BJP state president Manmohan Samal handed over the award to former minister Bimbadhar Kanhar, poet Kananbala Patnaik, senior journalist Rajaram Satpathy and social activist Rudra Narayan Mohapatra.
PTI