Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday chaired the second meeting under the ‘Transformational Initiatives’ series. Today, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, G Mathivathanan shared the achievements of the Department under ‘Transformational Initiatives’.
Mathivathnan said that basic technical knowledge has been utilised in order to implement various programmes of the HUD Department, giving focus on participation of self-help groups (SHGs). The transformation has brought positive change in the living and lifestyle of people in the lower strata of the society.
The Chief Minister praised the programmes and advised different departments to work has one team to achieve success. The HUDD Secretary continued, “Today, 84 per cent of houses in urban areas have piped water supply. The Drink from Tap programme is functional in 24 cities. Priority is given to slum areas while implementing this programme.”
More than 17 lakh slum dwellers were living in a disordered environment. Under the JAGA Mission, within 4 years, 1.75 lakh families have been awarded land rights and 585 slums have been transformed into Adarsh (Model) Colonies. Similarly, 1,540 slums have drinking water supply, 1,075 slums have eletricity connection, and 589 slums have toilet facility.
Under MUKTA, 22,500 projects have been accomplished with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore, thereby providing livelihood to more than 5 lakh people who were working in other States. MUKTA is a living example of community participation. As many as 15,000 SHGs are leading from the front to manage the programme.
Secretary to CM (5T), VK Pandian said when the basic facilities are made available to a critical mass (city population), it can said that the transformation has been achieved. “The development of our cities should be done in a scientific manner with involvement of people. Instead of engaging big companies, Odisha has trusted on community involvement for transformation of the cities, which is the State’s USP, he added.
Among others, Ministers Padmanabha Behera, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sudam Marndi, Ashok Chandra Panda, and Tusharkanti Behera, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, and Secretaries of different Departments attended the presentation.
