Bhubaneswar: Empathy, compassion and sensitivity are the fundamental principles of the governance system, and listening to people’s problems and resolving them remains the highest priority of the Odisha government, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said on Monday.
Addressing the media after attending the 20th state-level grievance hearing programme at the Chief Minister’s Grievance Hearing Cell in Unit-2 here, Majhi said his government was committed to remaining with the people in their joys and sorrows.
The Chief Minister arrived at the grievance cell in the morning and personally heard the grievances of people. Ten senior ministers and secretary-level officers of various departments were also present during the hearing.
“Our government is a government of the people. We give the highest priority to listening to people’s problems with sensitivity and resolving them. Wherever people face problems, our government certainly reaches there,” Majhi said.
He said the government had stood by people during natural calamities such as floods, cyclones and droughts and provided necessary assistance. The government had also declared the untimely rains of 2024 a natural disaster and extended assistance to those affected, while an assistance package had been announced for the current flood situation, he said.
Of the 15,327 grievances received during the previous 19 state-level grievance sittings, 14,519, or 95 per cent, have already been resolved, according to the official statement.
The Chief Minister said grievance hearings were also being conducted regularly at the district, tehsil and block levels. Collectors and SPs were hearing people’s complaints at the district level, while 2,69,394 grievances had been heard there by the end of July, with 87 per cent resolved.
With more grievances being addressed at the district level, people no longer have to undergo unnecessary harassment, Majhi said, adding that the changes in the administrative system had significantly strengthened public trust and confidence in the government.
As on previous occasions, the Chief Minister first met differently-abled persons and those suffering from serious illnesses who were waiting outside the grievance cell. He heard their problems, accepted their petitions and directed officials to take immediate action before proceeding to hear registered complainants inside the cell.
During Monday’s hearing, Majhi sanctioned medical assistance of Rs 14.50 lakh through the Single Window System for 16 persons suffering from various serious illnesses. More than 600 grievance petitions were received through online and offline modes.
Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari, Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling, Commerce and Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena, Housing and Urban Development Minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra, Cooperation Minister Pradeep Bal Samanta, Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Minister Gokulananda Mallik, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj and Forest, Environment and Labour & Employees’ State Insurance Minister Ganeshram Singh Khuntia were present.
Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Saswata Mishra, Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue Department Arabinda Padhee, Principal Secretary of the General Administration and Public Grievance Department Suresh Kumar Vashishth and other senior secretary-level officers also assisted in the grievance hearing process.
