When the news broke yesterday that all ministers of the Biju Janata Dal had resigned en masse and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had set in motion the process for a complete overhaul of the Cabinet, many political pundits were left completed puzzled.
While a Cabinet reshuffle had been known to be in the works for quite a while, nobody had even gotten close to expect – let alone predict – what happened.
But they cannot be faulted for that. This is for the first time ever in his 22 years as Chief Minister that the BJD supremo has effected such a move.
What made it all the more surprising was the fact that it came along just a day after the BJD enjoyed a thumping victory in the byelection to Brajarajnagar Assembly seat, with its candidate Alaka Mohanty beating her nearest rival Kishore Patel from Congress by a margin of over 66,122 seats.
But then nothing really comes as too much of a surprise under the leadership of the five-time Chief Minister, who keeps the state administrative and political machinery constantly on its toes to serve the public in an ever-improving manner.
This was recently – and abundantly – evident just a couple of days ago during his address at the orientation programme for newly elected members of the panchayati raj institutions (PRI).
On the occasion, he advised the fresh PRI members to consider the problems facing the public as their personal problems and make sincere efforts to resolve those, and he categorically instructed them to ensure that to ensure that not a single person should be deprived of availing the government benefits. He even urged them to implement the 5T principles (teamwork, technology, transparency, transformation and time limit) for fast and all-round development of the state’s villages.
This occasion was yet another first in that it marked the state government’s decision to train all the all 1,06,352 PRI members – including 30 zila parishad presidents, 822 ZP members, 314 block chairpersons, 6,479 panchayat samiti members, 6,749 sarpanchs and 91,913 ward members – on disaster management, women’s empowerment and optimum utilisation of funds, among other things – within a six-month period.
The whole nation now knows about the wonders that the 5T model of governance and the Mo Sarkar initiative have done for Odisha and can potentially do for all states if implemented the way they have been by the Naveen Patnaik government. The Chief Minister’s decision to create a separate department for that purpose and appoint his long-time secretary VK Pandian – one of the state’s finest and most hardworking bureaucrats – as its secretary has proven to be a masterstroke.
It may not be wrong to say that this national acknowledgment and appreciation for Odisha’s fast-track development and his governance was evident in the Supreme Court’s recent verdict on the petitions that accused the Naveen Patnaik administration of illegal constructions and excavation at Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri.
After evaluating the Archaeological Survey of India’s inspection report on the project, the apex court firmly ruled that the state government’s actions on this matter were in the larger public interest. What is more, a sizeable fine was slapped on each petitioner for abusing the legal process.
In his 25 years of public service, the more-than-worthy son of the legendary Biju Patnaik may have been unpredictable for political rivals and pundits alike – but there is no doubt whatsoever that he has been a blessing for Odisha and its people.
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