Redefining Leadership in 21st Century: Naveen Completes Third Year of His Fifth Term

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has completed the third year of his illustrious fifth term in Odisha. It is a glorious moment in the political history of Odisha and is significant not just in terms of number of years Naveen has been in power, but his total dedication and sheer commitment to lead the State towards path of rapid transformation. Naveen’s political journey exemplified the politics of good faith, strong leadership, cooperative federalism and above all people-centric governance. Naveen Patnaik, who became the Chief Minister of Odisha in 2000, has been credited as the most successful Chief Minister in the country for providing a strong and stable government. Over the past two decades, Odisha, under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik, has risen up the ladder in different parameters of development. The first three years of fifth term of Naveen Patnaik are a reflection of his numerous achievements deeply rooted in his over two decades of good governance and people-centric policy approaches for the all-round development of the State.

On this day in 2019, Naveen took oath as the Chief Minister of Odisha for the record fifth consecutive term in the backdrop of challenges of natural disaster to the State. In less than a year of his fifth term, COVID-19 pandemic posed the biggest threat on Odisha as it did with the rest of the world. The spread of the pandemic had been a cause of concern for almost all countries of the world. Under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik, Odisha has very successfully fought the battle against the pandemic. The Chief Minister has also protected the State’s economy from the adverse impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Odisha’s economy is poised to register an impressive 10.1 per cent growth in the current fiscal as compared to 8.8 per cent growth of the national economy. The Naveen Government has provided special financial support to the micro, small and medium enterprises to tide over the COVID crisis. Despite the pandemic, Odisha has emerged as a leading investment destination in the country with over Rs 4.4 lakh crore investment proposals received during the last three years, with more than 1.53 lakh employment opportunities.

In his fifth term, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched modern India’s one of the greatest people-centric transformative initiatives ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, 2019. The ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme, based on the principles of 5T (Teamwork, Technology, Transparency and Time, leading to Transformation) has given a new dimension to the administrative system in Odisha. It has succeeded in building trust between the people and government. The ‘Mo Sarkar’ has brought dynamic changes in the perception of the people towards the government and government institutions, thereby creating an unshakable trust between the two.

In his fifth term, Naveen has continued his focus on the transformative initiatives in various sectors. The most important sectors are the education, health, tourism and infrastructure.

One of the ambitious initiatives in the education sector is the High School Transformation Programme. In the words of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, “It is the common responsibility of all of us to help the children realize their dreams and it is the dreams that chart the way forward in student life”. The High School Transformation programme is a demonstration of Naveen Patnaik’s vision of enabling Odisha students to excel in every field, know about new technologies and bring glory to the state. Under the guidance of Chief Minister and personal supervision of Secretary to CM (5T) VK Pandian, Odisha has successfully completed the first phase of the 5T High School Transformation programme giving a facelift to over thousands of schools across the State. The HST program has eliminated the differences between the schools in the city and the villages.

In his fifth term, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has made a giant leap towards achieving his mission of ensuring universal healthcare system in Odisha. The scope of the ambitious Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), which was launched on August 15, 2018, has been enhanced with the introduction of BSKY Smart Health Cards, a first of its kind initiative in the country. In just three years, more than 71 lakh families constituting nearly half of the population of the State have been covered under the health initiative. The revolutionary step has helped millions of people in getting free treatment in both government and private hospitals. Exactly after three years of its launch, the revolutionary Smart Health Cards have been launched in the State to provide annual health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family (Rs 10 lakh for female members). With this card, the patients get instant access to healthcare services at all government hospitals and more than 200 private hospitals both in Odisha and outside. The BSKY Smart Health Card initiative has played a vital role in transforming health service delivery system in the State and has created history in the healthcare sector in the country.

Besides emphasizing on improving infrastructures at the existing state-run hospitals, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took initiatives to provide health services to the people of remote and inaccessible areas of the State. One such major initiative is the Mukhyamantri Vayu Swasthya Seva or Air Health Services. Launched in December 2021, this initiative provides quality health service to the people belonging to the remote parts of the State. Under the scheme, specialist doctors are flown to remote areas of the State to treat patients admitted into their respective district headquarter hospitals. In the first phase, this innovative service has been made available for people of four districts Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi and Nuapada. The scheme has immensely benefited people from weaker sections of the society and bridged the gap in healthcare services.

One of the most major steps taken by the Chief Minister in his fifth term is the transformation of the heritage sites in the State. Starting with the Puri Srimandir, the Naveen Patnaik Government has taken the initiatives for the facelift of major heritage sites, such as Lingaraj Temple, Chandi Temple in Cuttack, Nilamadhav Temple, Kantilo, Sarala Temple in Jagatsinghpur district, Samaleswari Temple development in Sambalpur district. On this line, the transformation works of Maa Taratarini temple has been completed and the Pratishtha Mahotsav of renovated temple was recently organized. The beautification of the Maa Taratarini temple in Ganjam district is the best example of 5T transformation initiative that the Naveen government has been sincerely pursuing for the development of the ancient shrines.

The Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led Odisha Government has been playing a key role in the turnaround of the country’s sports scenario with its continuous support for players and investment in sports infrastructure. The state has emerged as a sports hub of the country.

In his fifth term, Naveen Patnaik has continued his focus on women empowerment through Mission Shakti movement. The Chief Minister has approved an allocation of Rs.4,973.39 crore for the Mission Shakti Department. The budgetary allocation will span over a period of five years from FY 2022-23 to FY 2026-27. In just two decades, Mission Shakti has been able to bring together more than 70 lakh women of more than 6 lakh SHGs. Keeping in view the importance of the Mission Shakti, the Government of Odisha had in 2021, declared it as an independent Department of the Government to bring synergy across all the SHG-centric government initiatives, deepening the engagement of lakhs of women at the grassroots levels and ensuring last-mile delivery of sustainable livelihood opportunities to the women SHGs. Naveen has always emphasized on the political empowerment of the women by their active participation in the political process. The recent success of women candidates in the three-tier Panchayat and urban polls in the State indicate a paradigm shift in the way women were placed in the political space. The political empowerment of women in the State is clearly visible at the ground level with more than sixty five percent women being elected to the various posts in the three-tier Panchayatiraj system. Naveen’s party Biju Janata Dal, which clean swept the elections, had given tickets to more number of women candidates than men and the results were also in tune.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has many a times reiterated that corruption and dishonesty have no place in public life. In his fifth term, the Chief Minister has maintained his zero tolerance policy towards corruption and has given a free hand to the enforcement agencies to nail the corrupt officials. Probity and integrity of government officials in public life has been the mainstay by which the government reaches out to the masses.

Naveen Patnaik’s acceptance among the masses remains intact and the Biju Janata Dal enjoys invincibility in Odisha politics. It has been proved again and again. The BJD had created history with its landslide victory by winning 766 out of 853 Zilla Parishad seats in the recently concluded three-tier Panchayat elections. It is the largest ever victory for any political party in the country. Similar, the BJD also recorded historic victory in the urban elections winning all mayoral posts in all the three cities of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur and clinched the chairperson posts in 73 out of the 105 other municipalities and NACs.