Naveen: Want to see Odisha become an ‘empowered state’

Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who was conferred the lifetime achievement award by New Delhi-based NGO, Capital Foundation, on Sunday, said that he wanted to see Odisha become an empowered state.
“My lifetime achievement will be to see an empowered and spirited Odisha claiming her place in the sun. We are on the right path and by Lord Jagannath’s grace and the support of our people, we shall get there soon,” said Naveen after receiving the award from former Chief Justice of India Justice N V Ramana. Dedicating the award to 4.5-crore Odias, the chief minister said the continuous support and faith of people in the past 22 years is the biggest inspiration to work towards an empowered Odisha.
Naveen, who took over the reins of the state in March 2000 after the Super Cyclone devastated Odisha in 1999 and claimed over 10,000 lives, also shared the transformation story of his government in different sectors in the past 22 years.
“After the Super Cyclone, who would have thought that Odisha will set global benchmarks in disaster management and get awarded by the United Nations. Odisha, which was known for poverty, is now known for the fastest poverty reduction in our country,” said Naveen.
In the presence of other dignitaries, Naveen also listed achievements of his government in areas like empowerment of women through Mission Shakti, upliftment of tribals, providing land rights to slum dwellers, doubling farmers’ income and production of maximum steel and aluminium in the country.
“Odisha has increased its steel production by nearly 10 times in the last two decades, which helped the country during the Covid crisis. Odisha supplied life-saving oxygen to 17 states during the Covid pandemic. In the manufacturing sector, Odisha attracts the maximum investment in the country,” said Naveen.
The chief minister also spoke on Odisha’s journey to becoming a sports hub by setting the stage to host the Men’s Hockey World Cup twice in a row and establishment of high-performance centres in various disciplines. He said Skilled in Odisha is a brand which not just the state, but the country is proud of, while Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, the flagship healthcare scheme, provides near universal health assurance to more than 80% of the population. ”Our 5T principles and Mo Sarkar initiatives have strengthened people’s faith in professional governance with a humane face,” he added.
Hailing the Capital Foundation, Naveen said that the NGO has evolved and established itself as an important space for open debate and discussions on various areas of public policy, democratic governance and reforms in various sectors that impact policy-makers.