BHUBANESWAR: As the state is under a spell of heatwave, the government on Tuesday directed officials to treat issues relating to drinking water as top priority and address them with extreme urgency.
Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja held a review of the situation across districts where it was revealed that over 40 per cent of 53,845 villages in the state face drinking water scarcity during summer. Ahuja directed the officials to take immediate action to address public grievances in this regard.
The meeting reviewed the progress of different schemes and projects. Discussions were also held on the status of filling up the vacant posts. Official sources said out of the four lakh sanctioned government posts, around 92,000 are still vacant. The state government had decided to fill up 65,000 posts by July 2025. Posts of around 18,000 junior teachers have been filled up and steps are being taken to fill up vacancies in various other departments.
Besides, the meeting was informed that to facilitate retired government employees, a portal is being developed to simplify pension and retirement benefits. The chief secretary urged employees to utilise this portal and address any technical issues that may arise.