2019 Yearender Special: Naveen Sets New Benchmark of Governance with ‘5T’ and ‘Mo Sarkar’ Initiatives in India

Bhubaneswar: When Naveen Patnaik took over as the Chief Minister of Odisha for a record fifth term in a row in May, he knew the peoples’ expectations from this term are much higher than earlier. So he set in motion the ambitious ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative on Gandhi Jayanti as part of his pro-people ‘5T action plan’.

The ‘5Ts’ — short for ‘teamwork, technology, transparency, transformation and time limit’ — are the governance mantra Patnaik has given to his Cabinet colleagues and senior officials days after assuming the top office for the fifth time.

Under ‘Mo Sarkar’, arguably the first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, the Chief Minister, DGP, Chief Secretary and other top officials make phone calls to citizens for their feedback on visits to hospitals, police stations and government offices.

People are being asked about the behaviour and professionalism of government officials who dealt with them. The officials are being ranked as per the peoples’ feedback. The CM himself has spoken to people over the phone.

Scenes of Pandian, a 2000-batch IAS officer known for keeping a low profile having lunch with villagers at Aahar centres and orphanages have brought whiffs of fresh air into peoples’ perception of Odisha’s governance mechanism.

Schedules of random, surprise visits to the far-off districts have been kept so secret that even officials of the local administration have no prior information about them.

A Department of 5T has been created to carry out the initiative under the CM’s direct supervision. The charge of this newly created department has been given to the man who is believed to have the CM’s eyes and ears: his trusted private secretary VK Pandian. The CM has flagged off the new initiative by calling up visitors to police stations and hospitals, selected randomly, and get their feedback on the quality of services they receive and the way they are treated in these establishments.

Everyone is sanguine about the Mo Sarkar or 5T initiative.

Based on a performance review, scores of government staff have already been relieved of their services as part of the initiative to ensure accountability.

Simultaneously, the government has started a massive crackdown on touts who ruled the roost in RTO offices and hospitals.

‘Mo Sarkar’ with the active participation of the Collectors, would transform the State like never before. Big ticket investments are flowing in and many are in the pipeline.

The HR implication of Mo Sarkar is the clinching factor. The feedback received directly from the people is being  used to rank employees in the order of their performances and those with good rankings will get out-of-turn promotion and action will be taken against employees with negative rankings. The performance-based reward system is hoped to sift the good from the deadwoods.

Mo Sarkar can be a global ‘good practice’ which can showcase resilience of a small economy and the determination of a state to develop an ‘answerable public system’.

Odisha with 5T and Mo Sarkar which has already set a new benchmark in the Governance has the potential to emerge as a strategic powerhouse serving India’s look east policy and playing a significant role in south Asia geopolitical equations. Both 5T and Mo Sarkar could strengthen the state from ‘inside’. It is a mantra to drive to reform Odisha from a low-income economy to a high performance-high growth system for equitable socioeconomic development.