Rome: True leadership means connecting with people at an emotional level. When it comes to connecting with the people of your state who you think your family members, it becomes more personal. It is then only that you can serve them from the core of your heart. For Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who has been serving the four and half crore people of Odisha as his family members, each member counts and the wellbeing of everyone is the ultimate intent.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is on a visit to Italy on various official programs. During his stay at Rome, he interacted with some of the Non-resident Odias living in Europe. In one such interaction organized at Rome, the Chief Minister was seen becoming emotional and teary-eyed. The event was a get together session with the Odia Diaspora at the Hotel Roma Hassler where intellectuals, students, young entrepreneurs and professionals gathered to listen to the Chief Minister. They came from faraway places to have a meeting with the most successful Chief Minister of India and a true leader of Odisha.
One of the participants present during the interaction was none other than the young Odia scientist Sesha Kishan from a remote village of Sambalpur, whom the Chief Minister had helped four years back for his higher studies. The moment Sesha started his story of struggles before the esteemed guests including the Chief Minister and 5T Secretary V K Pandian, there was utter silence and the Chief Minister became emotional and teary-eyed. Sesha illustrated the story of his struggles and how Naveen came as a messiah for him. The story of the young scientist was so inspiring that the Chief Minister could not control his emotions and became teary-eyed for a moment. It was such a sight that many of the people present at the meeting also became emotional.
Explaining the story, Sesha said that Naveen is like his parent. After the death of Sesha’s mother and father, he had to struggle a lot for his higher education. His hard work could bring him success and he was able to complete his education with outstanding success. In 2018, Sesha had met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at Bhubaneswar and was felicitated by him for his courage and successes. He had come to meet the Chief Minister with a pair of bathroom slippers and an outdated Nokia feature phone. When he met the Chief Minister, Naveen gave him a new iPhone and a cheque of Rs One lakh. Sesha still carries the iPhone given by the Chief Minister with him. Naveen also helped the poor guy in building his home. Sesha is today working as a research associate at the prestigious Georg-August-Universität Göttingen of Gottingen, Germany. Inspired by the Chief Minister, Sesha decided to dedicate his life for the betterment of the poor people. He has adopted more than 170 children in his village and provides him free education and bears all expenses. He promises to fulfill the dreams of Naveen. He promises to build homes for the needy. The heart rending emotional story of Sesha touched the Chief Minister.
Naveen was meeting the non-resident Odias and listening to their success stories. He calmly heard how they became successful in their ventures. He advised them to give back to the state and participate in Odisha’s transformation. 5T Secretary V K Pandian also interacted with the diaspora and explained them about Odisha’s transformation and successes. He illustrated Odisha’s growth story in the last two decades and how the state has adopted various welfare activities. He enlightened the audience about how Odisha became a food surplus state, how the state could lead the world in disaster management and how women empowerment has been the bedrock of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s government. He explained how Naveen’s priorities have been changing the lives of the people of Odisha. Naveen promised the people of Odisha to make them self sufficient in food production and the promise has been fulfilled. Infrastructure was created to augment agriculture ad steps were taken to improve farm productivity. He said that the Chief Minister’s motto is Women Empowerment. If the state has to progress, its women have to be empowered. He also highlighted the developments in the field of health, education and governance including Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, School Transformation, Mission Shakti and 5T Initiatives.