As the BJP govt completes one year in office, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi talks about his accomplishments and challenges along with the roadmap for Odisha’s growth and development in the coming years, in an interview with Siba Mohanty & SN Agragami.
Your government has completed one year in office with a slogan, ‘Barsa Ek, Uplapdhi Anek’. What is the biggest upalabdhi (achievement) of your government in the last 12 months ?
June 12 was a historic day in the political history of Odisha. People changed the government of 24 years and gave us a mandate to take Odisha in the path of development in all fields. Out of the 21 promises made by us, our government has fulfilled 11 promises, which is more than half. The results are for all to see. Let me give you one example. In Subhadra Yojana, we had promised to give a voucher of Rs 50,000 to women and have already provided Rs 10,000 to nearly 1 crore women in two half-yearly installments. This is not a cash dole to create vote-bank. Our aim is women empowerment. We have got ground reports, and you will be pleasantly surprised that 90 per cent of beneficiaries have utilised the money in a gainful manner.
On the path of fulfilling the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have increased the number of Lakhpati Didis from just three lakh to 16.6 lakh in one year and achieved the first position in the country. The prime minister himself has praised the achievement of Odisha in the NITI Aayog meeting.
Our second priority was the farmer. Within one hour of taking oath, in the first cabinet meeting we approved input assistance of Rs 800 per quintal over and above the MSP, which has already reached 17 lakh farmers. For the youth, we have provided 28,000 jobs. Nearly 30,000 youths have also got jobs in private sector.
The previous government had organised three Make-in-Odisha conclaves. But in only one Utkarsh Odisha conclave organised by our government on January 28 and 29, we generated more proposals and signed more MoUs than all the previous three combined. We received proposals of Rs 17 lakh crore, signed MoUs of Rs 13 lakh crore with employment opportunities for 13 lakh youths of the state.
The government has gained the confidence of people by doing all this work. We are committed to take Odisha to greater heights economically, socially and politically. We have fulfilled many promises during the year, which is why the slogan ‘Barsha Ek, Upalabdhi Anek’. A New Odisha is taking shape.
You claim proposals worth Rs 17 lakh crore and MoUs worth Rs 13 lakh crore were signed at Utkarsh Odisha. Many MoUs were signed earlier too, but few materialised. How is your government ensuring actual project grounding, not just MoU signing?
You can yourself see the difference. In just four months, we have already conducted groundbreaking of projects worth Rs 1,78,000 crore, opening possibilities of giving jobs to 1.1 lakh youths. We ensured establishment of a Rs 2,700 crore technical ammonium nitrate (TAN) plant at Gopalpur in just 10 months. This is the largest and first-of-its-kind project in India where all machinery were brought from Singapore. Besides, all big companies like Tata, JSW, JSPL and IOCL are either expanding or bringing new investment to Odisha. The downstream sector is also coming up in a big way. Each and every district is being covered.
Many felt your lack of experience in administration would be a hurdle. Besides, your cabinet is mostly made up of first-time ministers. How challenging has it been to function as chief minister and lead the government?
I was never an outsider. I was deputy chief whip when there was alliance government in the state. At times, I had to face the ire of the government specially when asking questions about mining areas of Keonjhar which is my home district. Then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had once called and pulled me up for raising such questions. But I had not stopped as I was in search of truth. I have been three-time MLA, Opposition chief whip and chairman of many committees. The success of the government in one year under my chief ministership has proved my capability.
It is correct that many first-time MLAs became ministers. Further, as the entire administration had worked under another government for 24 years, to make it attuned to the new dispensation was very challenging. I had to hold many meetings with the ministers. They were given responsibilities as prabharis of districts and associated with different problems. By doing this, they gained experience and at the end of one year became capable of running their ministries. We have succeeded in a collective manner.
With BJP coming to power, there were expectations that it will demolish the bureaucratic control. One year on, the general perception is, nothing has changed.
Absolutely not. My cabinet doesn’t sign pre-decided proposals. It doesn’t end in minutes. We make extensive discussions on proposals, then take a decision.
The bureaucrats were running the government earlier. To bring them out of that mindset, a shake-up was necessitated. Many left on central deputation. Bureaucrats who were ignored and sidelined in the previous dispensation and wanted to work were given responsibilities. We interacted with officers who were good performers but were loyal to previous government. Gradually, they also changed and realised that a bureaucrat has to work under any government. Besides, this was linked to their CCRs. They are now performing well and have a big role in achieving our target of giving good governance. Implementation of Subhadra scheme was not an easy job. We could do so because of cooperation from the officers.
After becoming the chief minister, you seem to have made it a priority to keep close contact with the people. You have revived the CM’s public grievance cell, are visiting districts almost every other day. Is it a brand building exercise?
The big objective was to completely eradicate the distance between the Third Floor (CMO) and people. Under the previous government, the Third Floor was turned into a fortress with no one having access, forget the common man. Nobody could enter it. No minister, MP or MLA could meet the chief minister. I have become chief minister from the grassroots. I decided to eradicate this distance and meet common people.
Let me tell you one experience. One day a beggar came with an application. Security people did not allow him inside. But he persisted. At last, he sat under a tree and did not leave. I received the information and immediately met him. I came to know that he is from Puri and has become a beggar because of some problems. He gave me his application. I talked to collector Puri about his problems which are now being resolved. These things increase people’s confidence on the administration/government. In this way, ordinary people have come to believe that it is a people’s government headed by a people’s chief minister. This is very important in a democracy. If I don’t meet people, I will never want to solve their problems.
The previous government focused on a surplus budget and strict FRBM compliance. You’re shifting towards higher spending for schemes like Subhadra. How will you manage this?
FRBM Act is for every state and even the Centre. There is a system governed by the RBI and NITI Aayog. If we do not follow that system and incur more loans, the state will become bankrupt. These are alerts. Odisha has been a budget surplus state. To continue this will definitely be a challenge going forward. We want to focus on robust infrastructure. Odisha’s capital expenditure is 6.2 percent of the GSDP which is highest in the country. This is possible in Odisha only.
Despite playing a key role in ensuring BJP government and PM Modi’s third term at the Centre, Odisha seems to have been neglected in the Union Budget while states like Bihar and Andhra Pradesh took the cake.
Not true. Odisha has been given priority in the Budget. There is a very good coordination between Centre and the state government, else the prime minister would not have visited Odisha seven times in the past year. Odisha’s rail and road sectors have received Rs 1 lakh crore from the Centre. We are constantly in touch with the Centre for projects and funds are not a constraint. Our proposal to set up a branch of the National Forensic Science University in Odisha was approved within 15 days. This is a Rs 300 crore project. Similarly, many projects have been approved for Odisha basing on my letters. This cannot happen if Centre is ignoring Odisha. All the central ministers are giving focus to the state. Our government is taking up a massive initiative of reviving sugar industry in the state. We discussed this with the Union Home and Cooperation minister Amit Shah today and there are now proposals to reopen sugar mills in Badamba, Bolangir and other places.
You talk of Viksit Odisha by 2036 to propel Vikist Bharat by 2047 under a double-engine government. The neighbouring states like Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh also have double-engine governments. But major disputes like Mahanadi river water, Polavaram project and Kotia border dispute remain unresolved.
We are proceeding on various fronts to resolve the issues. The Mahanadi river water dispute with Chhattisgarh will be resolved through talks. We are going to formally begin talks with the Chhattisgarh chief minister in this regard. I am confident on this issue. Polavaram, though, is sub-judice. We are firmly putting forth our stance in the court. Not only Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana are involved in this. This is a case of four states. But we are sticking to our stand.
One year has been completed. There are many vacancies in your cabinet. Is an expansion or reshuffle on the cards?
BJP is a national party and the biggest political party in the country. This will be done after discussion with our top leadership. This will be done at the right time.
What are your biggest priorities for the next year? Is the government planning new initiatives and bold reforms?
Priorities have been decided early. Along with all the empowerment programmes, our focus is on creating infrastructure, fast-pacing industry and job creation. That will lead us to Samruddha Odisha. We will undertake necessary reforms to support this.