Abhyudaya: A Scintillating Narrative Of Odisha’s Transformation By 5T Secretary V K Pandian

Bhubaneswar: It is the quest for transformation in every sphere that has made Odisha’s beloved Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to come up with the 5T Model of Governance. Odisha’s transformative journey in the last few years has been propelled by the 5T Model of Governance. And the credit for the result oriented implementation of the 5T Initiatives in Odisha goes mainly to V K Pandian, Secretary 5T Initiatives.

The story of Odisha’s transformation has many dimensions and when it is narrated by none other than the man who has made it the foundation of an emerging Odisha, the whole subject becomes more important. On the occasion of the 2nd anniversary of Youth India Foundation on Sunday, V K Pandian presented a rare but realistic and scintillating narrative of Odisha’s transformation powered by the 5T Model of Governance. In his brief but interesting presentation of less than 30 minutes on Odisha’s development, Pandian explained the aspects of 5T Initiatives that have proved to be of immense helpful in transforming the governance in the state.

In his presentation, Pandian explains how Odisha transformation from a state known for mishandling disasters to a state that has set global benchmarks in disaster management and known for saving thousands of lives during every disaster and getting awarded by the United Nations. From a state known for acute poverty to a state known for the fastest pace with which poverty has been reduced in India, Odisha has transformed from a state that was dependant on other states for its own food security to a state that plays a major role in the food security of the country.

Odisha is the third largest contributor of rice to the Public Distribution System of the Country. It is a state which was known for practicing primitive agriculture to a state perhaps the only in the country which has doubled the income of the farmers in the last ten years. From a state which was not able to pay salary for its own employees, Odisha has become the only state in the country which has a revenue surplus budget and invests maximum GDP in developmental programs.

According to the 5T Secretary, these are some of the glimpses of the transformational journey that Odisha has undertaken under the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. These are all huge transformations impacting almost every life in the state and beyond. It is this quest for transformation in every sphere that made our beloved CM to come up with this governance model – the 5T Model of Governance.

Speaking of transformation, Pandian says Transformation is larger than change…Transformation is faster than change…Transformation is more qualitative than change…In public service or in public spaces effecting transformation is huge challenge both for government and the administration. And this is where CM Naveen Patnaik’s theory of 5T involving four dimensions of Governance come handy.

The four dimensions of transformation are Transparency, Technology, Teamwork, Time. Explaining the four Dimensions, Pandian says that Transparency is the most significant aspect of transformation – whenever public money is involved, the top most criteria in discharge of a public service is transparency. The next T– Technology – use the best of technology to reach out to the people. The third T – Teamwork – one of the weak areas of any government or public service is team work. So the Chief Minister emphasizes on team work. And the fourth T – Time is one of the most neglected dimensions of governance. In most of the implementations of infrastructures and programs there is a time overrun and cost overrun, which has an economic cost and a social cost of every time overrun to public. This is one of the dimensions that the Chief Minister has give emphasize. We do audit of financial services, but we don’t do a timeline audit.

The presentation by V K Pandian on the dimensions of 5T Initiatives were conveyed by some of the best practical examples of the transformative journey of Odisha. He cites some of the instances such as High School Transformation and how it is transforming the lives of students and the society. He also cites the example of Mo Sarkar being implemented by the Government of Odisha to bring in responsive governance. There should be professional response without any corruption and harassment by government officials. With Mo Sarkar, there has been a huge change in the perception of the government in the way government functions.

Pandian also presented the health sector development initiatives taken up by the government under the 5T Initiatives in Odisha. While generally governments go for insurance models for health care, Odisha has adopted the assurance model in which where there is no intermediary. It is directly between the government and the private hospitals who come into the fold. The BSKY Smart Card helps the people to have healthcare easily at all the healthcare facilities and with transparency. The BSKY is the best example wherein all the dimensions of 5T Initiative come to help the more than 80 percent of the people of the state with better healthcare facilities.

The Abhyudaya program was also graced by India’s technology pioneer Sam Pitroda, who threw light on the technological developments going on in the world today. A large number of young participants from across the world virtually attended the program.

The virtual program of Abhudaya can be accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udVNhNV5UoM