Odisha has come a long way from abject poverty to a model state in 2 decades : Patnaik

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday highlighted the progress in Odisha over the past two two deacdes under the BJD government saying the state has come a long way to emerge as a model state in many fields from its condition of abject poverty and acute financial mess during the period.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday highlighted the progress in Odisha over the past two two deacdes under the BJD government saying the state has come a long way to emerge as a model state in many fields from its condition of abject poverty and acute financial mess during the period. The state despite the COVID pandemic is now among the fastest growing ones and is making huge investments across all sectors like irrigation projects, infrastructure development, industrial hubs, health institutions and educational activities, he told the India Today Conclave here.

Patnaik, who addressed the conclave in the virtual mode, said that when he took over the reins of the state in 2000 Odisha was in the throes of a severe crisis after the 1999 Super Cyclone and development activities had come to a halt. In the last two decades under the BJD government, the state has come out of the crisis and has made rapid strides in development and has emerged as a role model in many fields. ''It was not an easy journey. We had to overcome many challenges including a strong legacy of political corruption and administrative lethargy in the state. Large parts of the state face geographical and social-economic hurdles ... In those days Odisha used to be in the news for wrong reasons like hunger, poverty, disasters ... The finances of the state were in a mess and there was no money even to pay salaries,'' Patnaik, who is also the BJD chief, recounted.

Odisha, he said, has now progressed to becoming a leading state in paddy production and is on the fast track to industrial development. It tops in mining and mineral based industries like steel and aluminum and has been recognized in fields like skill development, health initiatives like Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, urban projects like Jaga Mission, Drink from Tap, high school transformation, fiscal management, food security, besides road connectivity like Biju Expressway.

The Odisha government, he said, is working with the single-minded focus to fulfil the aspirations of the people, who appreciate the good governance provided to them and have voted for BJD for five successive terms. “Our model of governance is to provide transformational governance with the aim to build a new Odisha. The principles of our governance are best explained by five Ts – transparency, technology, team work, time and transformation,” Patnaik, who is helming the state for the fifth consecutive term, said.

The BJD government has also adopted the policy of zero tolerance of corruption and to leverage latest technology to improve the effectiveness of the governance systems and delivery of public services and cited examples of implementation of online system in administration, smart classrooms under the high school transformation and a model scheme for farmer empowerment 'Kalia', he said. Besides, it has involved all segments of the society in developmental activities. ''We have programs for women empowerment like Mission Shakti. More than 70% of our zilla parishad presidents are women. We ensured that women get more than their fair share in the governance structures and become important members of our team for new Odisha,'' the chief minister said.

Referring to the strides taken by Odisha in the field of sports, Patnaik said the government built partnerships with sports federations, corporates and sportspersons. ''Together, we established high performance centers and organized national and international tournaments. Due to such partnerships we could help restore the glory of Indian Hockey''.

There will be visible transformational changes acrodss Odisha in the next two years and mark a giant leap forward in the development history of the state, which will emerge as a leading state in the country, he concluded.