Will leave no stone unturned to ensure justice is done to women, children: Odisha CM

Expressing his concern over the vulnerability of women and children to multiple crimes, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday said that his government would not leave any stone unturned to ensure that justice is done to the victims, while exemplary action is taken against the guilty.

Expressing his concern over the vulnerability of women and children to multiple crimes, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday said that his government would not leave any stone unturned to ensure that justice is done to the victims, while exemplary action is taken against the guilty. In a statement made in the Assembly today, Chief Minister Patnaik said: "As the Chief Minister, let me assure the House, that crime against women will be one of my topmost priorities. We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that justice is done. Let me assure that any case of neglect, especially relating to women and children will not be spared. Exemplary action would be taken."

In his statement, Chief Minister Patnaik expressed his pain over politicizing the acts of crime against women and children, which he said, "multiplies the trauma and gives a very wrong message to the people at large." He also detailed how his government's 'Mo Sarkar' initiative has contributed significantly to achieving the goal of good governance. Urging the members to forget that he is the Chief Minister for 19 years or he is the president of Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Patnaik said: "As a senior member of this House, I would humbly like to mention something -- politicising any human tragedy, especially relating to women is inhuman."

Asserting that politics over human tragedy will never give any returns, the Chief Minister said that being a mature democracy, "let us set high standards of political discourse both in the Assembly and outside." "Rape, murder, death of women are extremely sad events. Politicising them multiplies the trauma and gives a very wrong message to the people at large and young people in particular. In case anyone is not satisfied with the investigation, there are legal fora for relief," he said.

The Chief Minister said that due to prompt and professional investigation in four sensational cases of rape and murder of minor girls, the death penalty has been awarded to the accused persons under the POCSO Act. Expressing satisfaction over the fact that there was an increase in the conviction rate in red-flag cases, which has gone up to 41.48 per cent in the year 2019, the Chief Minister said that "people are the soul of democracy. The hallmark of good governance is citizen satisfaction."

Talking about his 'Mo Sarkar' initiative of his government, Chief Minister Patnaik said that the phone number of every petitioner visiting the Police Station is recorded and random calls are made to take feedback about the experience in the police station. "I have personally made more than 300 phone calls and in the system, more than 2,500 calls have been made. Let me inform the august House that there has been a huge transformation in service delivery at the police station. We are aware that this transformational initiative will certainly increase the reporting and registration of cases," he said.

Stating that the overall law and order and crime situation in the state has largely remained under control and there has been huge improvement in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) situation in the state, he said: "I have made a commitment to the people of Odisha on this August 15th that one year from now by August 15, 2020 people will have a choice whether to visit a government office or not for any service or entitlement." Knowing well the problems faced by the labourers in getting their wages, Patnaik shared with the House the resolve of his government to ensure that the payment of wages for them becomes smooth.

"The next big transformation we would like to achieve is payment of wages through banks in all the works of the state government. This is another huge target of 5T. People, especially poor labourers, will be hugely benefited by this. Under the 5T charter, we will take the governance to the next level towards an empowered Odisha," said Chief Minister Patnaik, while soliciting the cooperation of all members of the House. (ANI)

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