Odisha: Capacity Building Programme for Community Organisers and MUKTA Coordinators Organized

Bhubaneswar: To strengthen implementation of Odisha’s flagship urban wage employment scheme MUKTA, a day-long capacity building programme for Community Organisers and MUKTA Programme Coordinators was organized here on Monday.

G. Mathi Vathanan, Principal Secretary H&UD Department, made an address to the participants and outlined the way forward, urging them to strive to achieve speed and scale without negotiating quality and transparency in the implementation of MUKTA.

He has directed that all 2055 wards of 115 Urban local Bodies must have 5 basic needs like Park, Gym, Paver road , open space and drainage by end of December 2023. The professionals must adhere to the SOP.

MUKTA takes a community-driven, participatory, and bottom-up approach, ensuring transparency and accountability throughout the entire execution ecosystem. The H&UD department has always strived to achieve speed and scale without negotiating quality and transparency in the implementation of MUKTA, he said.

Today , MUKTA completes 3 years. During the last 3 years, around 52,500 projects have been implemented across 115 urban local bodies in the state. More than 62 lakh person-days have been generated, directly benefiting around 6 lakh urban poor and migrant labourers, of whom close to 40% are women beneficiaries. 36,000 rainwater harvesting systems have been created under the “Catch the Rain Campaign” in different ULBs. About 26,455 Mission Shakti groups and Slum dweller associations have been partnered in MUKTA for the execution of about 52,500 projects. So now it is time to expedite the pace of work. If anybody fails to perform will find no place in our team, Mathi warned.

Sangramjit Nayak, Director Municipal Administration, shared the vision and objectives of the capacity building workshop on the effective implementation of MUKTA .”Community Organisers and Mukta professionals in the ULBs play a key role in providing techno-managerial support and extending end-to-end facilitation support to Mission Shakti groups and slum dweller associations for smooth execution of the MUKTA scheme, which would benefit urban poor and migrant workers at large in terms of gaining livelihood opportunities at their doorsteps. The team must strive hard to make the vision of the honorable Chief Minister a reality and make continuous efforts to reach the last mile and make a mark in the urban landscape of the state through the implementation of MUKTA.

Sarada Prasad Panda, Joint Secretary and Nodal Officer told that MUKTA—Mukhya Mantri Karma Tatpara Abhiyan—is an integrated urban public works programme introduced in the middle of the COVID pandemic for providing a socio-economic safety net by providing rapid mass employment opportunities for the migrant and informal workers. It is an inclusive programme and comes under the 5T governance mantra of the Chief Minister. He also presented the 3 year achievement and future planning and asked the professional to cope up with the changed situation and work accordingly .They must work to achieve the target , he advised.

Additional Secretary Durgesh Nandini Sahoo gave welcome speech and informed for organisation of such orientation cum Capacity Building Workshop. Among others Additional Secretary Binay Das , Sanjay Pramanik, OSD cum Special Secretary , Sudhakar Pahi, chartered accountant and advisor to H&UDD and others spoke on the occasion. All the Cos and MUKTA professionals from 115 ULBs attended the programme.