Bhubaneswar: Housing & Urban Development Minister Usha Devi inaugurated a State Level Workshop-cum-Orientation for elected Representatives of ULBs held in the Convention Centre Auditorium of Lok Seva Bhawan here today. The Chairman, Vice Chairman and Councilors of 12 ULBs from 5 districts, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara attended the event.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said, “Together we can scale up our Initiatives and contribute in transforming the Urban Odisha. You all are peoples representatives and all our programmes are people centric. Hence, your involvement and leadership with lead us to success. You all Elected Members assembled here today on this auspicious occasion are “City Leaders”. You are our eyes and ears from whom we get updates and feedbacks on various key Urban Initiatives.”
Reiterating the vision of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik that “Decentralization and Community Partnership are the two eyes of Odisha Model for Urban Governance”, she said, “The Urban Odisha through this transformative approach under the 5T Governance Mantra has now touched new heights. The very objective of today’s workshop is to orient you on various modalities of Community Partnership strategies that are currently in operation across the state. Together we can scale up our Initiatives and contribute in transforming the Urban Odisha.”
Municipal Administration Director Sangramjit Nayak, in his address attracted more importance to the transparency in the work done in the urban space. He highlighted on how Housing and Urban Development hás evolved into a vibrant fast functioning department with a whole range of activities that cover mostly all aspects of urban life. It is quite heartening to add here that the allocation of the H&UD Department has increased over the years to more than 7100 crores today, he added.
He advised the city leaders to be more sympathetic to the cause of downtrodden, distressed, transgenders, urban poor, women and people in need and work in collaborative partnership with MSG & SDA.
Sarada Prasad Panda, Joint Secretary and Director, SUDA in his welcome address talked on handholding support to everyone for their journey in Transforming Urban Odisha. He also emphasized on effective Community partnership and strengthening the Mission Shakti SHGs and Slum Dweller Associations.
“We have launched this largest Capacity Building drive for all elected representatives to sensitize them on People Participation in Public Service and keep them updated on our latest interventions,” Mr Panda informed.
During the day long workshop OSD-cum-FA Sanjay Kumar Paramanik, Jaga Mission’s Addl Mission Director Surendra Routray, OUIDF Administrative Officer Sanjaya Rout, and other officers highlighted on Urban Sanitation, Community participation in Urban Initiatives like MUKTA, AAHAR, JALASATHI, Water Body Rejuvenation, Finance Management and MO Sarkar & 5T initiatives .
