Chief Secretary Anu Garg gave District Collectors instructions to speed up land acquisition, improve public service delivery, and guaranty timely project execution throughout Odisha after reviewing the execution of important development projects and government initiatives. Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Hemant Sharma, and secretaries from several departments attended the meeting, which took place at Lok Seva Bhawan. District Collectors participated electronically at the meeting.
Home, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Water Resources, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare, Health and Family Welfare, Agriculture, School and Mass Education, Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts, MSME, Mission Shakti, and Cooperation departments were among the topics discussed. Additional Chief Secretary Hemant Sharma recommended that Collectors and Superintendents of Police hold District-level Narco Coordination Committee meetings every three months as part of the “Nasha Mukt Bharat” campaign in order to reduce illegal drug trafficking and step up public awareness campaigns.
Additionally, he gave the Collectors instructions to locate government land right away in order to establish regional disaster-response centers in Balasore, Kataka, Brahmapur, Rayagada, and Sambalpur. During emergencies, the planned hubs will enable quick equipment deployment. He also demanded that the Excise Department relocate its different offices, police stations, and enforcement units to the designated regional centers. In order to enable distribution firms to connect electricity to Gram Panchayats and villages in the designated districts, the Energy Department requested that Collectors immediately address concerns pertaining to environmental clearances, land availability, and local constraints.
The Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department focused on enhancing procurement infrastructure, increasing godown capacity, and speeding up the tender process for moving rice and paddy from mandis to mills and then to depots when reviewing paddy procurement agreements. The Housing and Urban Development Department requested that Collectors expedite the acquisition and transfer of land for the irrigation and sanitation projects in Rourkela and Balangir, as well as the Bhubaneswar water supply project.
