BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday advised the panchayat representatives to consider problems faced by their villages as their own and try to resolve them.
Addressing the orientation programme for the newly elected panchayat representatives of over 1.6 lakh, the Chief Minister said that Biju Patnaik's dream of women empowerment has been achieved as a large number of women have won the panchayat election this time.
He said that the representatives should pay special attention to people belonging to the deprived section. Stating that panchayats play a key role in the State's governance system and development agenda, Naveen said that these are service centres.
The representatives should pay attention to the fact that people are never disappointed by getting deprived from government's welfare programmes. He asked them to create their identity in their areas as messengers of development.
The 5T initiative of the government can transform the panchayats and should be utilised properly, he said and added that the grassroots democratic bodies can be turned into model institutions through the programme.
Panchayati Raj Minister Pratap Jena said that panchayats play a key role in the development of the State while Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain said existing infrastructure in the panchayats have been mapped to facilitate different welfare schemes.
Mission Shakti Minister Tukuni Sahu and Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo said that panchayats are the first step for successful implementation of different development programmes. Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra said as the responsibilities of the representatives have increased manifold, their training is very important.