Berhampur: During his interaction with the people of Berhampur on Sunday, 5T Secretary VK Pandian shared his experience of four years as Collector of Ganjam district and receiving four national awards. He spoke about how Ganjam has contributed in creating administrative models which have been appreciated and adopted at the state and national level.
The 5T Secretary expressed his deep gratitude to the people of Ganjam stating that all this was possible only with the support and hard work of the people of Ganjam.
Ganjam was twice awarded the best performing district in MGNREGS at the national level by the then Prime Minister. At a time when wage payments to MGNREGS workers was done through cash, Ganjam took the novel initiative by making all wage payments directly to the bank account of the labourers to ensure transparency and timely payments. This initiative was later replicated throughout the country by the Central government and was made compulsory in MGNREGS payments and in many other such schemes. This move helped to remove middlemen and provide wages to workers directly.
In 2011, Ganjam district was awarded the best district in the country by the President of India for its rehabilitation measures for Persons with Disabilities. The single window concept and provision of disability certificates for providing all assistance to Persons with Disabilities had started in Ganjam district. From providing just 1,500 certificates annually, more than 30,000 people were given disability certificates within a span of six months under this initiative.
In the late 2000s, Ganjam was in the red zone in HIV cases. However, the steps taken by the district team led to drastic reduction in the HIV cases and Ganjam was awarded for being one of the most successful districts in HIV reduction in India. From 1,303 cases in 2010 cases reduced to 514 in 2023, a reduction of more than 60%.
Odisha is currently the only state where all HIV patients are given monthly pension irrespective of their age or income.
Most of the land in Ganjam district was in the Gramakantha Parambok category. This made it difficult for the farmers to avail loans from banks and people were treated as if they were landless.
“As Collector of Ganjam, I realised the pain of the people due to this anomaly and brought it to the notice of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who immediately brought about the required amendments. Now, most of the Gramkantha Paramboke land has been settled in the name of the Raiyats across the districts in south Odisha benefiting lakhs of farmers”.
“Earlier it took a long time to pass through the Girishola check gate on the Odisha- AP border, causing mental harassment to people especially patients who used to go to Visakhapatnam for medical treatment. Our team tried to streamline the process and curb corruption, and later when I joined the CMO, I the Chief Minister of the issue and ensured that all the check gates were removed across the state”, he said.
“To provide the best English medium education to the bright students of the remote areas of the district, we started a hostel in Berhampur and got the students admitted to the English medium schools in the city. This model was replicated across the state in the Anwesha scheme providing best English medium education to thousands of children of the disadvantaged sections of the society”.
Maa Tara Tarini temple development was the first initiative for transformation of pilgrim amenities in temples. The work that started in Maa Tara Tarini temple has been taken up across the state in many temples including Maa Samleswari and Srimandir. This is bringing a transformative experience in the spiritual journey of millions,” Pandian said.
According to the 5T secretary, Ganjam was the first district which started block-level federations for the women self-help groups. This helped in strengthening women’s empowerment at the grassroots level and build leadership among women. This was later adopted across the state in all the blocks. More than 70 lakh women are now part of the Mission Shakti movement across the state.
Land rights issues of the slum dwellers was first identified in Gopalpur and efforts were made to provide them with the legal rights to land so as to lead a dignified life. This initiative was later modeled into the Jaga Mission which is a one of its kind land rights projects for the urban slum dwellers, across the state. This is unparalleled anywhere in the world.
During the peak of Covid epidemic, lakhs of people returned to Ganjam from across the country. Due to the cooperation of the people, such a complicated exercise was managed well without any major escalation in Covid cases. This was widely appreciated at the national level, he added.
Pandian stressed that the entire credit to all these milestone works goes to the people of Ganjam. “It is because of their culture of hard work and community consciousness that we could take up such transformative projects. Were it not for the leadership of Chief Minister and the complete support and faith of the people, such great works which brought laurels to the state and the country and benefitted lakhs of common people. It could not have been undertaken without the support of the people.”
(IANS)
