Naveen Walks The Talk With Unprecedented Empowerment of Women And Youth For ZP Presidents Posts

Bhubaneswar: The recently held Panchayat Elections in Odisha have opened a whole new era in the unprecedented empowerment and development of the Common man of the state. The landslide victory for the Biju Janata Dal has once again affirmed the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and proved that development has no parallel. While winning more than eighty percent seats in the three-tier grassroots elections is incomparable anywhere in the country, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s thrust on the flag-bearers of development – women, youth and educated will certainly take Odisha to new heights of Growth and Development. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Biju Janata Dal supremo Naveen Patnaik today picked up younger and educated candidates for the posts of Zilla Parishad president as his party scripted history in Odisha by forming ZPs in all the thirty districts.

For the first time in the history of Odisha, and probably across the country, a single party has formed Zilla Parishads in all the districts in the State. This is unprecedented victory for the Biju Janata Dal and the result of immense faith of the voters in the strong leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

In a significant decision that will have wide-reaching ramifications, Naveen has chosen young, educated and talented party workers as Zilla Parishad Presidents with a long-term strategic view to mentor them for leadership positions.

Saraswati Majhi, just 23 years old tribal leader from the remotest Kashipur area, is selected as the youngest Zilla Parishad President. A graduate in Science, she will be spearheading the developmental activities in Rayagada district.

Continuing his focus on the all round development of the remotest areas, Naveen selected Samari Tangul of belonging to the Swabhiman Anchal as the Zilla Parishad President of Malkangiri. She is 26 years old and studied till +2 Arts. Kumudini Nayak, the newly elected Zilla Parishad Chairman for Sambalpur also hails from the remotest place of Bamra in Sambalpur District. It is expected that these areas will see further development activities in the coming years under the leadership of the local ZP Presidents.
Of the thirty districts, fifteen have got new Zilla Parishad Presidents who are aged below 40 years – a clear thrust on the ability of the youth by Biju Janata Dal. Likewise, 23 of the 30 districts (76%) have ZP Presidents below the age of 50 years. The average age of all the ZP Presidents put together is 41 years only.

Another important outcome of this election is the higher educational qualifications of the selected candidates. Eighteen ZP Presidents have Educational Qualifications of graduation. Twenty six of the thirty district ZP Presidents have completed at least +2 level education. Naveen has carefully chosen educated candidates with good public reputation and without any criminal cases to provide enlightened leadership and good governance in the districts.

Reposing his faith in the women leadership and the cause of women empowerment, Naveen has chosen twenty one Women as the Zilla Parishad Presidents, that’s 70% of total seats, even though the statutory threshold is just 50 percent. This is the first time in the history that such large number of women are heading the Districts in Odisha and probably, unprecedented anywhere else in the country.

The larger districts of Mayurbhanj, Ganjam, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Sambalpur and districts of Undivided Koraput (except Nawrangpur) are headed by Women Zilla Parishad Presidents.

Out of the 18 Unreserved seats (including Women), 12 OBC candidates (67%) have been made Zilla Parishad Presidents. This is as per the commitment of the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik regarding giving preference to OBC candidates. In his own home district of Ganjam, Naveen has selected an OBC women candidate Anjali Swain as the Zilla Parishad President.