Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five pledges for their nation’s future and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s heralding of a new era of transformation in their home state saw the people of Odisha brimming with optimism during the Independence Day celebrations, but updates in the following days about the unfortunate flood situation across a dozen districts of the eastern coastal state dampened their spirits in no small measure.
It is a tad too hard to be positive when you know that the lives of nearly five lakh people from over 1700 villages in your state have been affected by rain-triggered floods. Over and above this, the news about a bolt of lightning critically injuring as many as 10 young children at a primary school yesterday in Deogarh district further worsened the mood. Barely a month has passed since reports about lightning strikes across Odisha killing seven people and gravely injuring almost as many in a single day (July 23) had shocked the state.
There is no denying the humungous challenges that natural calamities continue to pose before Odisha, but it has been reassuring to see Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik tackling those head-on over the past two decades by putting ingenious disaster management plans in place and ensuring their meticulous implementation. This time is no different either. Immediately after conducting an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts, the Chief Minister has directed all officials concerned to expedite relief measures, such as food distribution, drinking water supply and healthcare services, both for humans and animals.
Equally reassuring is the way Union Home Minister Amit Shah is spearheading efforts to keep India safe, both from within and without.
While Shah has been at it ever since assuming his current post, his inspiring leadership on this front was most recently visible at the recently held Nation Security Strategies (NSS) conference held in New Delhi. During his address to the conference, which was attended by the top brass of the nation’s police forces, Shah hailed the government’s success over the past eight years in neutralising the three biggest threats to internal security: terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, extremist organisations in the Northeast and Left-wing extremism.
But at the same time, he urged all states to prioritise issues concerning national security. The two-day conference – in which issues such as counter-terrorism, radicalisation, drug-trafficking, cybercrimes, crypto currencies, counter rogue drone technology, 5G technology and challenges posed by Maoist outfits were comprehensively discussed – Shah called on all Director Generals of Police (DGPs) of border states to keep a strict watch on demographic changes taking place in their region and also to ensure that all information of technical and strategic importance was shared at the ground level in the border districts.
After the union Home Minister concluded the NSS conference by saying that India must win the fight for its future and its youth at any cost, sources revealed that Shah had successfully motivated the 600 officers attending the event to do their absolute best in the interest of the nation’s security.
It is worth remembering that Shah was the one who started the trend of honouring the fallen J&K police jawans and officers. During all his trips to J&K, he visited the homes of the martyred policemen and assured their families of the nation’s support behind them. Such gestures went a long way in reviving the spirit of nationalism and boosting the morale of security personnel fighting terrorism in the region.
As long as people like PM Modi, CM Patnaik and Home Minister Shah are at the helm in this country, hope will spring eternal, no matter what.
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