Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has obliged Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram by appointing IAS officer Rashmita Panda, a few days after his request, as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rourkela Smart City as well as Commissioner of the Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) and Vice-Chairperson of the Rourkela Development Authority (RDA).
Panda was the Collector of Nabarangpur district since March 2015 and has received accolades from the Chief Minister for her initiatives.
Recently, Oram had urged for a dedicated officer for the Rourkela Smart City Project. Panda is the right person to work for taking initiatives for the Smart City, feel many.
In a letter to the Chief Minister, Oram had lamented that there has been no headway in the Rourkela Smart City Project owing to shortage of officials.
“It seems that the State Government is not paying any attention for implementation of this project due to which an officer of ADM rank, who is already burdened with two more portfolios, has been given charge of this prestigious project,” he had mentioned in his letter to the CM.
At present, the Rourkela Municipal Corporation has over 700 vacancies, but the authorities have not taken adequate steps to fill up the posts, he had mentioned.
He had even mentioned that the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been provided with sufficient manpower and headed by senior officers of sufficient work experience to execute the work within stipulated timeline.
Now with an active IAS Officer at helm of Smart City Rourkela, things would scale up and match in its efforts taken by Bhubaneswar Smart City, said a senior official.