Bhubaneswar: As many as 504 (civil) junior engineers joined the state government here, Monday. While 398 of them were appointed to the Panchayati Raj department, 78 have joined the Odisha Municipal Engineering Cadre and 28 the Public Health Engineering Cadre under the Housing and Urban Development department.
Addressing the engineers during an induction programme at the Convention Centre, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged them to be passionate about their work and always deliver their best. “You all are young, confident and full of energy. You are here to serve the people, make their lives change for the better. Develop a passion to give your best,” he said. He also advised them to follow the 5T principles of teamwork, transparency, technology and time to see the transformative impact of their work. He said, “You will see the complete transformation of Odisha in your lifetime. And you will be a catalyst of that transformation.” Patnaik further said that his government has taken up in a mission mode the drive to bring transformation in every sector of society and bring visible improvement in the quality of life of the state’s people. “Our 24×7 ‘Drink from Tap’ scheme is one such transformative initiative that even bigger cities like Delhi and Mumbai do not have. We want to break new ground in all our endeavours,” he said. “You will be working in urban and rural areas of the state to build infrastructure for providing basic amenities to all the people,” Patnaik added.
Provision of drinking water, sanitation, initiatives like Basudha, Garima, Drink from Tap, and housing facilities for urban poor under the Jaga Mission are some of the programmes that will be directly managed by these new engineers at the grassroots level.
On the occasion, Housing and Urban Development Minister Usha Devi said that water is crucial to public health and hygiene. As engineers, these professionals will take up one very essential mandate establishing a link between policy and implementation.
ARINDAM GANGULY, OP
