HISTORY WILL REMEMBER THE PERIOD AS MILESTONE WHICH PUT ODISHA ON FIRM PATH OF TRANSFORMATION & PROSPERITY FOR PEOPLE: CM

Bhubaneswar(16/03/2024): Chief Minister during the Cabinet Meeting on Saturday said transformation is visible across the state and across every segment of the population. The Chief Minister said, "When I first took office as Chief Minister of Odisha, the State was devastated by the Super Cyclone and looked down upon as a poor underdeveloped state.

There were humongous challenges in bringing the state back on the track of development.

But I was guided by the vision of Biju Babu to make a difference in the lives of my 4.5 crore family members.

Today, Odisha is recognised as one of the most progressive states in the country and is cited as a model in various fields. The last five years have been based on the Principles of 5T.

History will remember this period as a milestone which put Odisha on a firm path of Transformation and prosperity for its people.

Our Team work through transparent governance and intense use of technology has been creating remarkable change within a short period of time. It may be recalled that even before we started this term in 2019, the State faced a rare summer cyclone, first in 43 years, Cyclone Fani which was an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm, Category-5 with wind speeds of 280 kmph.

This caused extensive damage to the nerve center of our economy including Puri, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

Thanks to our dedicated and diligent community based disaster management systems, we faced the cyclone courageously and our relief measures started immediately after the cyclone storm passed.

Even New York Times, on front page, praised Odisha as a model in disaster management.

Our resilient people bounced back and within a few months there were no signs of the cyclone’s devastation. With renewed vigour, we started this term with a firm commitment of transformation and fastened the pace of progress.

Unfortunately, in early 2020, the World was hit by the Covid Pandemic.

For the next two years till 2022, the virus, in its multiple variants, had caused immense damage to economies across the globe.

In spite of the unknown fear of this first of its kind pandemic, Odisha was comparatively well prepared and emerged as a model in Covid Management, as per a study by John Hopkins University.

We not only ensured one of the lowest mortality rates in the country, but also saved millions of lives across India by supplying oxygen.

We were the only state which provided free quality health care from testing to treatment for every citizen, in partnership with the private hospitals. As soon as the pandemic was coming under control, we restarted our projects and schemes with extra pace.

One of our main focus areas in this term has been education.

Today, in every panchayat of the state, you will find a transformed High School with smart classrooms, e-libraries, science labs, computer center, sports facilities etc.

Probably, nowhere in the world such a large number of schools have been transformed in such a short time.

As a next step, we have started the transformation of the colleges across the state.

To inspire the youth to dream big and empower them to achieve, the Nua-O program and scholarships have been launched.

This is a revolutionary step which has never been attempted in the world at this scale.

We are committed to make the innovative Nabin Odisha Magic card as a passport to prosperity for our youth." To further empower our youth , modern and latest skill initiatives from across the world are now incubated in Odisha.

Skilled in Odisha is now a recognised brand.

Swayam is our youth empowerment scheme to provide Rs 1 lakh loan at zero interest rate to the unemployed youth to start their entrepreneurship journey, the CM stated. Modern sports facilities are being set up across the state.

The World's Largest Seated Hockey Stadium, created in 15 months, in Rourkela is a case study in project management.

Odisha has become the Sports capital of India.

We truly believe Sports for youth and youth for the future.

In women’s empowerment , our Mission Shakti members have set a unique example in the country.

Fuelled by zero interest loans upto 10 lakh , SHGs are fast converting to SMEs in every sector.

Rs.40,000 crore bank linkage has been provided to SHGs in the last 5 years with Rs.15,000 crore in this financial year alone.

To provide identity and recognition to our Mission Shakti members, our Government has provided uniforms to all 70 lakh members with blazers to the leaders, uniforms to all community support staff and enhanced remuneration.Their selfless work and dedicated leadership during Covid and natural disasters has shown that Mission Shakti Women are strong partners in the transformation story of Odisha, he added .