Bhubaneswar: With less than a year left for the general and assembly elections in the state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik shared ‘3Ds’ – determination, dedication and devotion – with his ministers to win people’s faith.
Patnaik, who chaired a meeting of the council of ministers here on the fourth anniversary of his government, asked his colleagues to work hard every minute to honour the faith of people with these three Ds.
“I am indebted to the four and a half crore people of Odisha who have reposed faith in our commitment and capability for working towards an empowered Odisha,” the CM said after the council of ministers’ meeting at the secretariat.
Notably, the Chief Minister had come out with a mantra of ‘3Ts’ – transparency, teamwork and technology – in the previous year to bring about a transformation in governance.
Later, Patnaik held another round of meeting with secretaries of all departments where he asked officials to make administration more accountable and people-friendly.
On completion of his government’s fourth successful year, the CM highlighted 10 key achievements of his government vis-a-vis BJD’s manifesto before 2014 elections, which had been adopted by the government at the first council of ministers’ meeting.
“One of our topmost promises was housing security -to convert all kuchcha houses to pucca houses. Odisha is a trailblazer at the national level in rural housing. In the last four years, nearly 17 lakh pucca houses have been constructed. The remaining 7 lakh houses will be completed by March 5 this year as a humble tribute to the great Biju Babu,” he said.
He also said the government has enacted a historic legislation to enable slum dwellers in urban areas to have land and property rights. Nearly 10 lakh people will be empowered through this initiative.
He also cited the construction of over 25,000 km of rural roads, creation of 7 lakh ha of additional irrigation, 117 lakh MT of grain production, crop loans for sharecroppers, millet mission for rainfed areas and skill development of 9 lakh youth out of a targeted 11 lakh.
Noting that four new medical colleges have started in Koraput, Baripada, Balasore and Bolangir and five more are in the offing, Patnaik said Odisha has had the sharpest decline in infant mortality among all the states and is today better than the national average.
“We hosted the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships in a record 90 days. Our people’s love for hockey prompted us to become the sponsors for our national teams and it is indeed a matter of pride for us when Team India sports the Odisha jersey and logo,” he said.
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