Odisha govt includes Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment Dept in 'Mo Sarkar' scheme

The Odisha government has brought Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment Department under its flagship initiative 'Mo Sarkar'.

Launching the programme on Thursday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, "There was a time when super cyclone in 1999 devastated the entire coastal Odisha. During that period, we had to wait for other States to provide relief to our people in the stress. Now, Odisha is the third-largest contributor to the country's Public Distribution System (PDS), the credit goes to the farmers of the state."

"We have re-named Agriculture department to Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment Department to involve the farmers in our programs, Policies and the empowerment of farmers is our sole objective, I am Glad that the Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment Department will come under "Mo Sarkar" initiative," he added.

Calling the initiative as a step forward in the empowerment of farmers and development of rural Odisha, Patnaik said that the administrative machinery should dedicate itself to the welfare of the farmers as they are real masters.

The Odisha State Higher Education department will also soon come under the purview of "Mo Sarkar" program of 5T initiative.

'Mo Sarkar', which means 'My Government' in Odia, is a transformative initiative of 5-T programme, which was introduced by Naveen Patnaik after he returned to power as the Chief Minister of the state for a fifth consecutive term.

The 5-T mantra is based on the philosophy that transparency, teamwork, technology and time leads to transformation.

Under the new initiative, the chief minister and other ministers talk to common citizens to seek their feedback on the kind of response and service they received after they visit government facilities.