Bhubaneswar: The overall law and order situation in the State has remained by and large peaceful, stated Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today.
“During the period, the State has been relatively free from any form of communal discord. The Elections to PRI 2022, Urban Local Bodies 2022 and Elections to different Co-operative Societies were conducted peacefully in the State. The Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath with devotees participating in lakhs after two years was also conducted smoothly due to elaborate Police arrangements,” said Patnaik in his reply to demand discussion on Home and General Administration & Public Grievance (GA & PG) Departments in the State Assembly today.
Patnaik claimed that intensity of overall Maoist violence has come down in the State while adding that the Panchayat Elections have been conducted incident free in LWE affected areas with high voter turnout despite determined efforts by Maoists to hinder the poll process.
Strengthening the police machinery both in terms of human resources and infrastructure has been the priority of his government, said Patnaik.
“A total of 944 posts in various ranks have been created for Odisha Police last year. Dedicated Police Stations for Cyber Crime & Economic Offences have been created. Further, recruitment process is going on for filling up of about 1730 posts in the rank of SI/ASI in Police and posts in various ranks of Jail as well as under Fire Services. Government has created about 200 posts for 28 Police Outposts. Similarly, during the current year so far, Government have created 3 Security Companies in 3 IR Battalions in the State with creation of 663 posts in different ranks,” the Chief Minister said informing on recruitments made in police and Fire Services.
He further informed that Prisons Development Board has been constituted in order to improve and modernize the infrastructural facilities in Prisons and added that the government has also recently enhanced the daily wages of the convicts based on the level of their skills.
As part of social inclusion and upliftment of all sections of society, transgenders were given permission to apply for the post of Sub-Inspectors in Odisha Police.
Patnaik said the government has created several institutional mechanisms like Integrated Anti-Human Trafficking Units, Investigation Units for Crime against Women, Mahila and Sishu Desks and Crime Against Women and Children Wing with commensurate manpower.
All women related heinous crimes are being treated as “Red Flag Cases” and Special Public Prosecutors are engaged for these cases. All Police Stations of the State are being covered under elaborate CCTV coverage and installation of CCTV has been completed in 584 Police Stations out of 593 Police Stations, he added.
The Chief Minister said that to deal and prevent growing cyber-crime, 15 Cyber Crime and Economic Offence Police Stations have been established in the State.
“All Police Stations of the State are covered under ‘Mo Sarkar’ in order to achieve highest level of accountability and transparency through the feedback from the complainants/ citizens. More than 78 thousand random calls were made to the citizens who visited Police Stations. More than 90 percent citizens have given good rating to the police,” Patnaik claimed.
While stating that people are the soul of democracy and the hallmark of good governance is citizen satisfaction, Patnaik described Mo Sarkar as an important transformative initiative under the 5T Charter of governance.
“All departments have a charter approved for implementation of transformational initiatives and service delivery under 5T. Mo Sarkar has been implemented across the departments and more than 3 lakh citizens have expressed their satisfaction through Mo Sarkar calls and actions have been taken on the basis of their feedbacks towards institutional transformation,” he informed.
He said that to ensure timely & hassle-free delivery of public services, the Government has notified 412 numbers of Public Services relating to 31 Departments under Odisha Right to Public Service Act.
Speaking on recruitment, Patnaik said that Odisha Public Service Commission, Odisha Staff Selection Commission and Odisha Subordinate Staff Selection Commission have been tasked to conduct recruitment examinations on a regular basis. During 2021-22, around 12, 810 candidates have been sponsored by OPSC, OSSC and OSSSC to various Departments of the Government, he added.
He stated that Government have introduced the Odisha Civil Services (Out of turn Promotion) Rules, 2020 for out of turn promotion of Government Employees having exceptional and exemplary achievements in furthering good governance and ease of public service delivery.
In order to bring efficiency in the administration, Government has also issued instruction containing procedure to deal with cases of premature retirement of Government Servants with doubtful integrity or due to inefficiency in public service delivery, he added.
A total of 164 Government servants have been sent on compulsory retirement/dismissal from Government service/pension has been withheld, he pointed out.
The Chief Minister informed that during the financial year 2021-22, a sum of Rs 367 crore has been utilized for Covid management from the donations received under CMRF and adequate assistance has been provided to indigent persons out of CMRF for their treatment of major ailments.
He pointed out that for quick redressal of Public Grievance and to ensure timely disposal of Pension cases, e-Abhijog Public Grievance Portal has been converted to JANA SUNANI Portal with effect from 1st November, 2021.
During this period, more than 16 thousand numbers of grievances have been disposed of through this system, he added.
He said the Office of the Lokayukta has started functioning since 20th March, 2019. In the Court of Lokayukta, 499 numbers of cases have been disposed off out of 775 cases instituted in the year 2021, he added.
He said the government has a Zero Tolerance approach to corruption.
“We have been taking a number of steps to strengthen the State Vigilance so that they can discharge their mandate more professionally and serve the people in a better way. The State Vigilance, during the year has registered 267 criminal cases against 475 persons and has also initiated 373 enquiries against the public servants. 272 accused persons have been arrested in Vigilance cases,” the Chief Minister pointed out.
Patnaik said that his Government firmly believes in honesty, transparency and high morality in public life. He added that submission of property statement has been made mandatory for all public representatives as well as Government employees at all levels every year which will be made available in public domain for absolute transparency.
“In democracy, people are supreme and we are here to serve them. My Government is committed to promote and implement all policies aimed at overall development of the State and to provide safe and secure environment to all its citizens. Our special focus is to ensure inclusive growth of the people and ensure transparent pro-people Governance,” Patnaik pointed out.
