BHUBANESWAR: As Odisha registers a faster pace of urbanisation, the State government has pushed forward urban infrastructure development, quality service delivery, decentralised governance and community partnerships. The pro-poor and community driven urban development mantra of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik under his 5T charter for the Housing and Urban Development has steered Odisha as one of the leading states in the country, bringing in accolades.
The state recently won the Best State Award in the second Edition of Janaagraha City Governance Awards for Jaga Mission and for transforming urban slums into liveable habitats. The Mission executed by the H&UD department through Odisha Land Rights to Slum Dwellers Act, 2017 provides slum dwellers with secure tenure and access to liveable habitat with infrastructure and services.
The mission covers whopping 3,000 slums benefiting more than 1.8 million people also fetched two more awards - World Habitat Award for granting land rights certificates to 52,682 urban poor families living in the slums and the India Geospatial Excellence Award for Technological Innovation, said H&UD minister Pratap Jena.
The State also achieved considerable success in solid and liquid waste management, affordable housing for urban poor and urban wage employment. The State won the Fastest Moving State Award in the prestigious Swachh Survekshan 2020 awards in which the Berhampur Municipal Corporation also received the Best Medium City in Innovation and Best Practices awards in the category of cities with 3-10 lakh population.
Jena said, the department’s initiative to provide universal access to piped water supply through the Drink from Tap Mission also won the Award of Excellence in the 18th CSI SIG eGovernance Award 2020 for Smart Water Management in Puri amongst 178 nominations received across India. The PHEO won the Best Civic Agency Award at the second edition of Janaagraha City Governance Awards for universal access to piped water supply.
Similarly, the Urban Wage Employment Initiative (UWEI) implemented in all 114 ULBs and FSSM in Berhampur have been shortlisted among the top 15 at the prestigious 2020 Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation as exemplary models of innovative policies and practices. The state has also topped among all Indian states in urban governance, as per the annual index developed by the Praja Foundation.