CM says state’s efforts helped uplift 8 million poor and improve disaster management
post news network
New Delhi, August 18: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik received the Outlook Speakout Award-2017 for Best Administrator in the country, here Friday. He was chosen from among six chief ministers. The others in the run were Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Manik Sarkar (Tripura), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra) and Siddaramaiah (Karnataka).
The award was presented by former president Pranab Mukherjee at a function held in New Delhi. Finance minister Arun Jaitley was also present. In his acceptance speech, Patnaik said: “It is a proud moment for all of us. I dedicate this award to the four crore people of Orissa. We are on the right path. I will get satisfaction when our Odisha becomes the number-one state in the country.”
The chief minister went on to elaborate his efforts which, among other things, helped raise 8 million people of the state above poverty line, he said.
“In 2000, Orissa used to import rice and now we have the 3rd largest public distribution system in the country. In the last 10 years we have doubled farmers’ income,” Patnaik said.
“Ours is also a state with 5 million Self-Help Groups under the Mission Shakti project. Earlier Orissa had high Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) but now our IMR is lower than the national average,” he said.
The CM listed the government initiatives that helped check casualties during cyclones. He said, “In the 1999 cyclone, around 30,000 lives were lost. In the last four years, we adopted a ‘zero death’ policy on the matter and not a single life was lost when Phailin struck.”
Rajesh Ramachandran, the editor in chief of Outlook magazine, congratulated the CM and told the gathering that the picture of Orissa as a poor state had changed drastically over the past few years.
Senior BJD leaders Pinaki Mishra, Pratap Keshari Deb and Debi Prasad Mishra also participated in the event.
