BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said that the overall law and order situation has been by and large peaceful, and intensity of Maoist violence has come down in the State.
Replying to the demand discussion on Home and General Administration and Public Grievances departments in the Assembly, the Chief Minister said the State has been relatively free from any communal discord.
The elections to Panchayati Raj institutions, urban local bodies and co-operative societies were conducted peacefully as also the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath with devotees participating in lakhs after two years. "The panchayat elections have been conducted incident-free in LWE affected areas with high voter turnout despite determined efforts by Maoists to hinder the poll process," the CM said.
He said that strengthening the police machinery both in terms of human resources and infrastructure has been the priority of the government. Total 944 posts in various ranks have been created for Odisha police last year and dedicated police stations for cyber crime and economic offences have been established.
Stating that recruitment process is going on for filling up of about 1,730 posts in the rank of sub-inspector and assistant sub-inspector of police and in various ranks of jail as well as fire services, the Chief Minister said 200 posts have been created for 28 police outposts.
Similarly, the government has created three security companies in three IR Battalions of the State with creation of 663 posts in different ranks. "As part of social inclusion and upliftment of all sections of society, transgenders were given permission to apply for the post of sub-inspectors of police," he said.
He said all police stations of the State are covered under "Mo Sarkar" in order to achieve highest level of accountability and transparency through the feedback from the complainants/citizens. More than 78,000 random calls were made to the citizens who visited police stations and more than 90 per cent citizens have given good rating to the police.
Reiterating the zero tolerance approach of his government to corruption, Patnaik said that the State vigilance has registered 267 criminal cases against 475 persons and also initiated 373 enquiries against public servants. As many as 272 accused persons have been arrested in corruption cases.
He said that 164 government servants have been sent on compulsory retirement/dismissal from their services and pension has been withheld on account of doubtful integrity or due to inefficiency in public service delivery.