Bhubaneswar: With the elections now over, it's time for the team Naveen to take a reality check. The party has made a mountain of promises during the campaigning and climbing the mountain of promise will not be a cakewalk for the State government.
Given the promises made have a huge financial implication, the most onerous responsibility therefore lies on the shoulders of new Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari.
Beset with dozens of yojanas coupled with the new promises made, it will be a tightrope walk for the FM. Not only he has to ensure proper fund allocation but also have to stick to the prudent fiscal management. As the State is now financing dozen yojanas via market borrowings, the loan portfolio of the State was on the ascent. Moreover, the issue of returning the deposited money to ponzi scam hit investors is still hanging over. So, all eyes are now set on Pujari's budget.
For Pujari, the road ahead looks more arduous with the CM vesting the reins of Excise Department also on him. The big challenge staring at the Excise Department is how to prevent the proliferation of the illicit liquor business in the State.
Similarly, with KALIA scheme proving a game changer this elections, the new agriculture minister Arun Sahoo has a task at his hand. During every poll campaign, CM Naveen Patnaik kept harping on extending the KALIA outreach to 33 lakh more farmer households. The major challenge for the minister is to meet the CM's expectations on KALIA promise, in addition to addressing the ills plaguing the farm sector in the State.
Odisha scored poor nationally in provisioning piped drinking water. BJD has made a promise to provision clean drinking water to every household by 2024. For the new Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Minister Pratap Jena, meeting the deadline is a big challenge. Besides, implementation of Ama Gaon, Ama Bikas and ending PC culture will test his mettle in coming days.
As Jena also holds additional charge of Urban Development Department and Law Department, solving the perennial problem of water logging in towns in the State and ensuring a smooth Rath Yatra are the major challenges ahead. The urban polls in the State are slated to be held later this year.
For the Women and Child Development Minister Tukuni Sahu, who makes her maiden entry as minister, augmenting the capacity of SHGs in the State is a major task at hand. In order to boost the capacity, BJD has promised to disburse interest-free loan worth Rs 5lakh to SHGs, make them procure paddy efficiently and involve them in supplying school uniform to children.
The challenges are galore for the Energy and MoS Home, Dibya Shankar Mishra. Right from ensuring safety to girl children and women, when rising gang rapes bring bad name to the Government, to creating more job opportunities in industries and addressing the issues plaguing State's energy sector, especially when the energy infra took a beating post Fani, his hands are full.