Odisha CM talks tough on corruption at collectors conference

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday said that his government will not tolerate and compromise with corruption.

While delivering his speech at a two-day conference of the district collectors here on Friday, the Chief Minister said, “There is no question of any compromise with corruption. This can be as clear a message as possible from me.”

He further stated that collectors are the last mile connectivity between the government and the people. The responsibility of fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the people lies on the shoulders of the collectors. People will reap the benefits of various welfare schemes launched by the government through the successful implementation of those schemes.

“The new government is committed to the development of Odisha. Our government will take several steps to develop agriculture, education, health, industry, infrastructure in villages and urban areas, the empowerment of women, and the acceleration of the state's economic development. The success of these initiatives will reach the people through your hard work and dedication and the hopes of our new government to make Odisha the number one state in India could be realised too,” he said.

He added that the major cause of worry for a government is the successful beginning and completion of the schemes launched by the government.

“I have personally realised during my long political career that there is a huge deviation in it. And there is corruption, irregularities and escalation of project costs due to the inordinate delays. I have observed a general trend that work usually progresses at a snail’s pace throughout the year while all of a sudden expenditure for work goes up at a lightning speed in the month of March. This leads to deterioration in the quality of work. There is no dearth of funds in our government and the funds are being allocated timely. So, there cannot be any excuse for inordinate delay in the progress of work owing to the scarcity of funds,” he said.

He asked the officials to write to the concerned departments to resolve if they come across such issues. The officials have also been advised to contact the finance department and the Chief Minister if the issues are not resolved. He urged the officials to ensure the timely completion of various projects.

He also advised the collectors to conduct quarterly monitoring of block-wise and scheme-wise implementation along with financial and physical progress. The chief minister emphasised the convergence between different departments of the government for the successful implementation of the scheme.

He urged the collectors to conduct field visits to monitor the progress of the status of the implementation of the schemes.