Odisha to judge, reward best practices of collectors

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday announced the formation of a six-member committee to judge the best practices adopted by collectors in their districts.

The committee will judge the practices adopted by the collectors in their districts and select the top three best practices. Their district collectors will be rewarded at the valedictory session of the collectors' conference.

The committee is to be made up of Excise Minister Damodar Rout, Women and Child Development Minister Usha Devi, School and Mass Education Minister Debi Mishra, Development Commissioner R. Balakrishnan, Energy Secretary Suresh Mohapatra and Health Secretary Aarti Ahuja.

Inaugurating the two-day district collectors' conference here, Patnaik asked the district authorities to open up and talk fearlessly about the problems they faced during implementation of welfare schemes.

"I want that you should work hard with sincerity and commitment so that the benefits of all our development and welfare schemes reach the intended beneficiaries up to the last mile," he said.

He said, "You are the cutting edge of our service delivery system. Your leadership at the district level can significantly improve the performance."

Patnaik said his government would support all pro-people initiatives adopted by the district collectors.

The chief minister said rural housing, drinking water schemes and some other programmes directly linked with the people should be at the top of the district collectors' agenda.

--IANS

cd/kb/vt