New Odisha CM Mohan Majhi Begins Exercise to Get Rid of Bureaucratic Legacy of Naveen Patnaik Govt
Bhubaneswar: After fulfilling some of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) major pre-poll promises in the past 48 hours, Odisha’s new chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi appears to have embarked on a mission to get rid of his predecessor Naveen Patnaik’s legacy of “excessive bureaucratic influence” on the governance system.
The CM, who took oath of office on Wednesday evening, has told reporters on Friday that he and his ministers will directly interact with the people to listen to their grievances and try to address them.
In the past 48 hours, the CM has interacted with many common people, slum-dwellers and lower-grade state government employees and listened to their problems and plights.
On Friday, the CM held his office even though it was a holiday for the first day of the state’s major cultural festival Raja Utsav and reviewed the functioning of the administration in the past two decades. Chief Secretary P K Jena and secretaries of all other departments were present in the review meeting.
During the review meeting, the CM was surprised to know that many of the departments had outsourced their activities to private consultancy firms. Besides, he found that some officials were serving in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and other important offices for decades.
Sources said the CM Majhi has asked the chief secretary to furnish details on the officers on re-engagement of officials
It has been learnt that no official could clearly provide any satisfactory answer to the Odisha CM during a review meeting on performances of various departments.
Majhi reportedly rapped the officials for such lapses and inefficient administrative mechanism and functioning: and, he has sought a clarification, sources said.
Political analysts speculate that there could be a major bureaucratic reshuffle in Odisha to set things right.
