Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today asked his ministers to improve the use of social media in every sphere of governance.
“Two years ago, we had taken a historic decision by approving the manifesto of the party which contained our pre-poll promises made to the people of Odisha for adoption as the priority agenda of governance. Though I am happy to share that we have been able to effectively address some of the key assurances made to our people, there is still scope for improvement in technology, which has not been leveraged enough to redress peoples’ grievances,” Patnaik said while addressing the Council of Ministers to mark the completion of two years of the fourth term of the BJD government in the state.
Talking about governance, the chief minister said though the state government had managed to replace 80 percent of paper files with digital files, efforts must be made to make it hundred percent in the next three months.
“As regards transparency in governance, there is still scope for system improvement and I am sure you will take this aspect of governance very seriously. There are many good practices happening in the country and abroad. You should be open to such initiatives and take steps to implement them in our state,” he told the ministers.
Stating that his government is decisively moving towards the fulfillment of the promises made to the people, Patnak said the government has been focusing to address the basic needs of the farmers, women, youth and the disadvantaged and marginalized sections of the society.
He complimented the ministers for the performance of their respective departments for successful organization of Nabakalebara, conversion of 10 lakh kutcha houses into pucca houses creating a benchmark at the national level for other states to follow, record food grain production of 120 lakh tonne leading to the Krishi Karman Award for the fourth time, establishment of 100 Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas on the pattern of Kendriya Vidyalayas, implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) to provide food security to 79.59 lakh families of the state, introduction of Aahar in more than 100 locations in the state providing food security for the needy people in urban areas, holistic health care coverage with the provision of free medicines under the Niramaya scheme and establishment of 6 new government medical colleges in the state, launching of ANWESHA to provide quality education to SC/ST students, opening of three new government universities, starting construction of the 650 km Biju Expressway at a cost of Rs 3600 crore to provide state of art connectivity in Western Odisha and commissioning of mega Lift Irrigation projects in the drought prone KBK areas to revolutionize agriculture in the traditionally drought prone areas.
“Apart from this, Odisha leads the country in the settlement of land under the Forest Rights Act to ensure the rights of livelihood for the tribals and forest dwellers”, he said, adding that the Mamata scheme implemented by the state government has benefited almost 20 lakh women.
Talking about the industry sector, the chief minister said setting up of the petrochemical complex in Paradip and commissioning of the Kalinga Nagar project are the major achievement of the state government.
Informing that Odisha has been ranked very high by independent agencies in “Ease of Doing Business”, he said the Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR) 2015 will usher in industrial growth in the state despite global slowdown.
“Our focus is value addition, skill development and job creation leading to growth with equity. We have also set up the Odisha Skill Development Authority to provide global standards in skill development and job creation,” Patnaik added.