Odisha CM asks ministers to make surprise visits to orphanages

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday asked ministers to undertake surprise visits to orphanages, childcare institutions during their district tours and have lunch there.

Instead of having food outside while touring different districts, the ministers should have lunch in orphanages, childcare institutions, schools and Aahar centres making surprise visit to these places, the chief minister has advised his ministerial colleagues.

Patnaik also advised the ministers to keep their visits to schools, orphanages and similar institutions secret and take only 3 to 4 persons with them, an official in the chief minister’s office said.

The ministers, who visit districts every month to monitor implementation of various programmes, generally have their food in government guest houses.

“The ministers will be able to understand the problems of orphanages, childcare institutions, schools and Aahar centres and examine the quality of food by making surprise visit to these places,” a statement from CMO said.

It said frequent visits of ministers to these places will also lead to better management of orphanages, childcare institutions, schools and Aahar centres.

Patnaik asked the ministerial colleagues to mention about their visits to these places and give suggestions for further improvement. The ministers submit monthly reports to the chief minister on different activities of their departments.

Similar instruction has also been issued to senior officials to during their visits to districts. Patnaik also asked senior officials to follow the same advisory as ministers during their district visits, an official said.

It may be noted that during recent district visit as part of ‘Mo Sarkar’ (my government) initiative, chief secretary Asit Tripathy and 5T secretary V K Pandian had their lunch at an Aahar centre, a cheap meal outlet run by the state government at Boudh.

Similarly, development commissioner Suresh Mohapatra, Pandian and other officers had lunch at a childcare institution run by district administration during a visit to Keonjhar recently.

The chief minister has asked the ministers to undertake extensive visits to districts and to make surprise visits to different offices and institutions under their department to ensure better governance and improve service delivery.

(PTI)