BHUBANESWAR: A week after invoking the 'Guru Mantra' of simple living and hard work to BJD legislators, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday asked Ministers of his cabinet to go on extensive field tours to get a clear idea of government programmes being implemented by different departments at the grassroots level.
Chairing a meeting of the council ministers a day before the budget session of the Assembly to restart after break, the Chief Minister advised the ministers to use 5-Ts of technology, transparency, teamwork, time and transformation to address the issues of public effectively.
He also asked them to make surprise visits to government offices for a reality check of programme implementation and delivery of services to the people. "You must meet people and seek their feedback to know how effectively the 5-Ts are working at the field level," the Chief Minister said.
"The Chief Minister instructed us to make extensive field visits, conduct surprise checks of government offices and review programme implementation, meet people and take their feedbacks on governance and supervise the implementation of 5-Ts for ensuring transparency and efficiency in service delivery," said Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment Minister Arun Sahu after the meeting.
The Chief Minister who devised the 3Ts (Teamwork, Transparency and Technology) model of governance during his fourth term added a new dimension to it by adding 'Time' to bring in 'Tranformation' after being elected for a record fifth time in a row.
"Time is most crucial factor which nobody can ignore. I am sure, all of you will diligently handle the issues by using the 5-Ts of our governance and measure up to the expectations of the people," Patnaik said.
In the first meeting of the council of ministers after the election, the Chief Minister had told them that the government will present before the people its achievements vis-a-vis promises on completion of a year of the government.
The council of ministers approved the proposal of the government to refund the money taken out of the State Disaster and Contingency Fund (SDCF) to meet its poll promise of financial assistance to farmers under Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme.
The state government which had withdrawn Rs 734.66 crore from the SDCF had to face severe criticism from oppostion parties for misusing the emergency fund.