Naveen’s Tryst with Probity

Bhubaneswar: When it comes to integrity in public life and intolerance to impropriety, Naveen Patnaik has all the say. The five time chief minister of Odisha has shown a tremendous maturity in dealing with dishonesty and declining standards in both political as well as administrative spectrums. His latest decision to remove the Director General of Police also substantiates that he will not tolerate any type of impropriety that goes against the principles of integrity in public life.

What differentiates the Chief Minister of Odisha from other politicians of the country is his prompt decisions when it comes to dealing with indiscipline or corruption in his government. The latest instance is not the only one that the chief minister has taken seriously.

There are many instances when he has shown to the world that there is no alternative to good governance. The government took a right decision by removing the Director General of Police when a number of charges came up that impacted the integrity of the Police Department and the Home Ministry which Naveen himself heads.

At a time when the government is implementing path breaking initiatives like 5-T and Mo Sarkar to transform the governance and overhaul the service delivery mechanism in the state, any misadventures have to be taken seriously and handled with strong actions. A slew of measures have been taken to streamline the service delivery mechanism in the Fire Department and any undue indiscipline that causes harassment to public also needed action. The Chief Minister took the right decision to constitute a committee to look into the irregularities alleged in granting fire department certificates to the different institutions. Also, the decision to authorise the field officers to issue fire certificates along with making the whole procedure Online shows the government is serious in implementing reforms and transforming the whole governance mechanism.

Naveen has been stressing on the transformation of government to bring in accountability in administration. The principles of 5-T have been implemented to get rid of the age old red tape and administrative inactiveness. With this each and every person working for the government is responsible for proper delivery of government services. Any distraction from the set goals needs to be handled strongly.

In the recent past, Naveen has been particular about the accountability factor and has been taking strong steps against corruption and doubtful integrity. In the last few months more than fifty officials have been dismissed from their duties after serious allegations were received against them. Some senior administrative officers have also been punished for their corrupt actions.

It is not new for Naveen Patnaik to take decisions instantly. He is known for his impromptu actions when it comes to taking action against any officials. During the two decades of his political career, he has taken action against many IPS and IAS officers. The removal of Sanjib Marik, Prakash Mishra, K B Singh and B K Sharma from the posts of DGP shows that nobody can escape the scrutiny of the Chief Minister. Another instance of Naveen’s instant decision is the removal of senior IAS officer Priyabrat Pattnaik from his offices on charges of his links with antisocial.

In the political sphere also, Naveen has taken many bold decisions that surprised many. But they were taken when there were serious questions raised about their integrity. In the last twenty years of Chief Ministership, Naveen has taken action against more than forty ministers. In 2001, three ministers of his cabinet, Nalini Mohanty, Prasant Nanda and Kamala Das were removed on alleged corruption charges.

From top to bottom all officials are now under the scanner of the Chief Minister. With the implementation of Mo Sarkar, all are part of the transformation process. Anybody found guilty or going against the welfare of the common man has to be made accountable.

The government has taken action against officials of the Police, Forest and Health departments. Many OAS officers have also been dismissed or their retirement benefits stopped for their wrongful activities. This shows that the government is taking steps not only against low level officials but senior officials are also under the scanner.

According to political observers, the prompt decisions of the Chief Minister against corruption have made him the darling of common people. People have welcomed his actions. This has sent a right signal in the administrative machinery that any type of indiscipline is not acceptable and will be dealt with strongly. Whoever may be the guilty will face the music.