When “Mo Sarkar Becomes a Mantra

Bhubaneswar: Comprehensive citizen feedback is a must to bring in true governance and it becomes the backbone of evaluation for successful policy implementation. As part of the Mo Sarkar program launched by the Government of Odisha, citizen feedback from the ground occupies an important place in the transformation process.

The government has an aim to bring in public services to the common man’s reach without any hassles. It wants to get rid of the red tape and clear all the bottlenecks that were hitherto playing spoilsport in implementing many important government schemes. It can only be achieved when the government reaches out to the people with a clear cut agenda. The steps taken in this regard by the government of Odisha led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seem to be in the right direction towards transforming the state to a true democracy where people will be the masters.

In the last few days, a complete makeover has been witnessed in the administrative parlance of Odisha. The apparatus is in a transformation phase devised by the Chief Minister and his administrative team. The Mo Sarkar programme, arguably the only of its kind in the country wants to overhaul the age old system of lackluster governance to an energetic and active people oriented responsible government. Following the principles of 5-T, the Mo Sarkar program is being implemented in the state to bring in true democracy.

Envisioned by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the Mo Sarkar program requires the administrators to reach out to the people through feedback and bring in the required changes. Today it has become the Mantra for transformation in the state of Odisha.

The surprise visit of top officials of the government including the Chief Secretary, Advisor to the CMO, Secretary 5-T initiatives, and all the top level officials to ground zero to take stock of the situation and bring in change will have a positive and lasting impact. It will not only bring in discipline and set in motion the officers responsible for implementation of various government services, but also lead to accountability.

Just after implementation of the Mo Sarkar program, top officials of the state including Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy, Advisor to CMO R Balakrishnan, Secretary 5-T Initiatives V K Pandian, Finance Secretary Ashok Meena and Mission Director NHM Shalini Pandiat made surprise visits to many of the backward districts of the state. They had a firsthand experience of the ground realities and reviewed the day to day affairs of public delivery institutions.

The visit to the Malkangiri, Koraput, Boudh, Phulbani and other District Hospitals is seen as the stepping stone on which the success of the Mo Sarkar depends. The team that has been involved in devising the Mo Sarkar initiative going to the ground will help speedy implementation of the transformation process.The guiding Mantra for the government of Odisha is people are its masters and they are the focus of the government.

The surprise visit and the interaction with the people in various hospitals of the state has had a positive impact. The health machinery of the state seems to be activated and energized as all district authorities are following the Mo Sarkar principles today.

Collectors of various districts are visiting the ground regularly to review the functioning of the hospitals and taking steps to improve the service delivery mechanism. The same thing is happening with the other important wing of the government, the police department. After the Chief Minister interacted with the public on their experience with regard to visit to the police station, a positive change is seen in the working of the police department. They are now more accommodative to the people’s concerns.

The surprise visit by the top officials of the State to one of the Aahaar centers in Boudh is being seen as the best example of transformation. CS Asit Tripathy and 5-T Secretary V K Pandian went to the Aahaar center to had their lunch at the center. They were seen interacting with the common people and taking feedback of the facilities. This has brought confidence among the common people that the things are getting changed.

While there is no doubt that direct feedback mechanism will work wonders, it needs to be implemented strictly so that it becomes a part and parcel of the governance mechanism. The passion should continue and the team at the highest level should endeavor to achieve the required goals.