Sambalpur: Accompanied by 10 ministers and departmental secretaries, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Monday held a public grievance hearing session at Sambalpur in Western Odisha.
This is for the first time that an Odisha chief minister held a public grievance hearing session outside the state capital of Bhubaneswar.
“We will take the government to different regions of the state so that the people can come for redress of their grievances,” Majhi told reporters after the session.
He said the people from Western Odisha during the previous BJD government could not meet the chief minister and seek justice from the government.
Majhi said: “As it is said that ‘Arakhita Ku Daiba saha’, our government is committed to provide assistance to all distressed people. ”
He said the BJP government since July 2024 has held nine such sessions in Bhubaneswar and it was decided to provide such facility to the people in the western region of the state.
He claimed that 88 per cent of the 9,377 grievance petitions received by the Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell have been addressed and people have got benefits.
On the 10th round of the Chief Minister’s public hearing programme here, as many as 1,000 people had registered their names. Another 1,368 people who could not register on the portal also submitted their petitions. A total of 6,000 petitions were received. “Action will be taken on all the petitions,” he said.
The chief minister said that clear instructions have been given to officials to resolve all the complaints at the earliest.
Majhi said as part of the programme here, 18 individuals suffering from terminal illnesses were provided immediate medical assistance totalling Rs 19.5 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund through the Single Window System. A medical team was present in the grievance hearing hall and they recommended treatments after which assistance was sanctioned from the CMRF, he said.
Majhi said the public hearing sessions are being held in different locations as per the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
People from 10 western Odisha districts — Sambalpur, Deogarh, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Bolangir, Boudh, Kalahandi, Nuapada and Sonepur attended the session. Even the people from Koraput also submitted their petitions, Majhi said, adding that physically challenged and elderly persons were given priority in the hearing.
Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Minister Rabi Narayan Naik said the initiative will ease people’s hassle of travelling to Bhubaneswar for hearing of their grievances by the CM.
PTI
