Sensing that the spotlight was on Ganjam district, both from the central government as well as the Opposition parties, CM Naveen Patnaik today gave a pep talk to sarpanches of the district heaping praise on them for the success in battling the virus resulting in improvement of the situation.
Sarpanches are the beacons in the ongoing battle against COVID 19. I am proud of you, I have full faith and trust on you. Your tireless effort has resulted in decline in number of COVID cases in the district, recovery rate has increased and fatality is down, he said.
The CM said the nation will acknowledge the role of sarpanches of the district and their competence in handling the COVID situation. He noted that right from day one the PRI members were in the forefront of the ongoing battle.
They were the ones who managed the Temporary Medical Centres when lakhs of Odia people returned to their home district. Stating that he was proud of the sarpanches, the CM said be it testing ,screening handling migrants, covid care homes , the fact remains that sarpanches were able to secure the cooperation of all concerned.
He recalled how late Biju Patnaik had focussed on strengthening of the PRI system. The same was followed when the present government empowered them with powers of the district magistrate, he said.
The CM asked them to carry on with the good work and assured them of all support. I have directed the collector to extend all possible cooperation, he added. Sarpanches of Sanakhemundi, Hinjili, Bhanjanagar narrated their experiences.
Odisha Assembly speaker S N Patra, Minister Bikram Arukh also interacted with the sarpanches. The CMO release on the video conference interaction provided no detail of the views presented by the sarpanches.