Bhubaneswar: In his characteristic succinct style, though laced with a hint of emotion, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik outlined the contours of his government as he took oath as Odisha’s chief minister for a record fifth term.
Eleven Cabinet ministers, nine ministers of state with Independent charge, and one minister of state were also sworn in with Patnaik. In a first, the ceremony was held in the exhibition ground. In the audience was Patnaik's sister, Gita Mehta, who had turned down a Padma award earlier and his brother, industrialist Prem Patnaik.
The very first Cabinet meeting saw steps being taken towards achieving two major promises that would benefit farmers and women. The Cabinet approved increasing the number of Kalia beneficiaries from 42 lakh to 75 lakh and sanctioned the immediate disbursal of funds as promised in the poll campaign. It is estimated that 25 lakh families will benefit within a week. In a step towards fulfilling another manifesto commitment, the Cabinet also sanctioned government business worth Rs 1,000 crore for self-help groups under the state government's flagship programme Mission Shakti that aims to empower women.
Industrialists Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sanjiv Puri, Sangeeta Reddy and CP Gurnani were among the prominent names who greeted the chief minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed his best wishes on Twitter and assured Patnaik of “complete cooperation from the Centre” in working for Odisha's progress. Among others who felicitated the chief minister were President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav and BJP senior Odisha leader Dharmendra Pradhan.
Patnaik said he was “eternally indebted to the people” of Odisha for the “faith they have reposed in the party” and outlined the “three Ts” of governance — team work, transparency, and technology, leading to transformation'. He added another dimension — time, which he said, “is of critical essence as the youth of today are in a hurry”.
Elaborating on the emphasis on achieving targets as quickly as possible, Patnaik highlighted that the timely evacuation of people ahead of cyclone Fani had led to the state garnering international recognition. Odisha is likely to host the Asian Athletics Championship in three months, 30 lakh additional women have been brought into the ‘Mission Shakti’ fold, the Kalia scheme for farmers could be rolled out in 15 days and the flagship universal health coverage programme called the ‘Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana’ in a month, he said.
“This is the pace that the people want in their governance model,” he added.
On the first day of taking over, Patnaik said that the government has given in-principle approval to the promises his party made in the run-up to the elections. Setting out a deadline, Patnaik said that a year from now, on May 29, 2020, the government will present before the people their achievements against the promises. In a signal to his council of ministers, Patnaik said he wants them to put their best efforts in this regard.
"An empowered Odisha”, where poverty would be a thing of the past, where women are equal partners in growth and development, a state that is inclusive of all vulnerable sections in its landscape of development, and where the ambitions of youth come true was Patnaik's articulation of a brave new dream as he once again got the people’s mandate.
Significantly, for a back-of-the-beyond state barely known to the outside world, Patnaik ended by saying, “The world should know that Odisha's time has come.”
Comments
0 comment