BHUBANESWAR : Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Opposition BJD for criticising his government which is yet to complete 100 days in power.
In his reply to the discussion on Appropriation Bill in the Assembly, Majhi, who also holds the Finance portfolio, said, his government was focused on delivery and not publicity.
“My government has not even completed three months, but the programmes and initiatives launched by us have touched the lives of the people of the state and their impact is for all to see.”
The chief minister termed the previous BJD government as a publicity-driven regime and said reports of massive corruption have started pouring in from education, health, women’s empowerment and livelihood sectors - the four major pillars on which development of a state largely rests.
He said the real picture of the school transformation programme under 5T initiative is beginning to come to the fore.
My govt focused on delivery, not after publicity: CM
“There is a sharp decline in the quality of education as students studying in Class-VIII and Class-IX are unable to solve Class-II and Class-III-level maths problems. This is because large number of teacher posts are lying vacant at the primary and secondary level,” he said.
The CM assured the House that the BJP government will take strong action against all those responsible for financial irregularities and the substandard work in the school transformation programme.
Coming down heavily on the ‘world-class’ health services propaganda of the BJD government, the chief minister said rural people are suffering a lot due to lack of basic diagnostic facilities in peripheral hospitals. Acute shortage of doctors and paramedical staff has accentuated their misery.
“My government has taken steps for recruitment of 3,000 doctors and other medical staff to bring a change in the healthcare system in all the government hospitals, especially in rural areas. The government has provided a corpus of Rs 200 crore to ensure steady supply of essential medicines,” Majhi said.
Asserting that measures have been taken to create new employment opportunities for 3.5 lakh people, the chief minister said around 1.5 lakh vacant posts in government departments will be filled up in the next five years. As many as 65,000 posts will be filled up in the first two years, he said.
The Assembly passed the Odisha Appropriation Bill, 2024 by a voice vote authorising the state government to draw money from the Consolidated Fund of Odisha to meet expenditure estimated for 2024-25. The bill entails authorisation of expenditure of Rs 2.65 lakh crore in the current financial year.
The Assembly had earlier given its assent to the Odisha Appropriation (Vote-on-Account No.2) Bill, 2024 allowing the state government to utilise Rs 95,000 crore from the consolidated fund for use in August and September of the current fiscal. The first vote-on-account was approved in February by the BJD government covering the months of April, May, June, and July, keeping in view the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.