Vikash Sharma

Bhubaneswar: Odisha has witnessed numerous instances where Police had to face wrath of public. From allegations of bribe to dispose off cases or lack of timely action, a dent has been made on the image of men-in-khakhi. In a bid to bring a change in the scenario, Odisha government is now gearing up to make the cops more people-friendly in the State.

Ahead of the scheduled launch of the ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative on occasion of Gandhi Jayanti this October 2, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged senior police officials to set new standards of policing in the State.

Chairing a preview meeting at Lok Seva Bhawan on implementation of ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative, Patnaik stated that the officers who will follow the 5T mantra and adopt a people-friendly approach will be rewarded. The chief minister interacted with 635 Inspector-in-charge (IICs) of various police stations of the State through video conferencing today.

Official sources said a system of rewards has been put in place for encouraging police personnel in achieving the aims and objectives of ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative of the Government. Those who perform well in terms of manners, etiquettes, behavior and response to citizens will be suitably rewarded, it said.

In this regard, Patnaik further said, “Under the Mo Sarkar initiative, a citizen will not chase us rather we will follow up with the complainant as to how he was treated at the police station and how his complaint was dealt with.”

“Starting from October 2, 2019, I will personally make ten phone calls every day. Based on the feedback, there will be immediate action appreciating those who are doing good work and initiating action against those who are not,” said Patnaik.

Under the proposed initiative, the phone number of every petitioner visiting the police station will be recorded and available to everyone in the system-starting from the chief minister to the Superintendent of police.

“We run the administration and draw our salary from the money of the tax payers. It is our utmost duty to treat citizens with dignity, whenever they visit police stations, deal with their complaints in a professional, ethical and humane manner. This is the transformation we seek to achieve through Mo Sarkar,” Patnaik added.

VK Pandian,  Secretary to the CM’s Transformation and Initiatives (5Ts) said, "Odisha CM has picked Police Stations and hospitals as these are the places where people go with lot of pain."

Meanwhile, opposition parties targeted Odisha government's 5T initiative. BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra stated that there is nothing new and it is a mere publicity stunt.

Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said, "It is an initiative of ruling-BJD to hoodwink people as it is a means only to strengthen its own party organisation."

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