Citizen is the master says Naveen Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, Jan 11: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said that one of the basic objectives of the 'Mo Sarkar' (my government) initiative is -- every public servant must understand that the citizen is the master.

The public servant is here to serve the citizens and there should be a conviction on this vision, Patnaik said on Friday while announcing that the Housing and Urban Development Department has joined the 'Mo Sarkar' initiative.

"So I would like to ask every public servant to treat the citizens with dignity, the chief minister said.

Patnaik said the initiative to bring all the departments of the state government under the Mo Sarkar is catching up momentum.

"I am glad that our initiative to bring all the departments under Mo Sarkar by March 31 this year is catching up momentum. And in this sequence, I am glad that the Housing and Urban Development Department is coming under Mo Sarkar initiative," he said.

Considering the rapid urbanisation, and the growing demand for modern infrastructure for providing efficient amenities, this is one of the most important wings of the government, Patnaik said.

"I am happy that we are moving in the right direction in making both modern and humane provisions for the general public," he said.

The government is set to provide quality drinking water to all the households in urban areas of the state, Patnaik said.

"We are also providing basic rights to urban poor through Jaga Mission. Jaga Mission recently received World Habitat Award for providing land rights to more than 50,000 urban poor families. The drink from tap mission in Bhubaneswar is one of the most promising initiatives in the state taken up by this department," the CM said.

The department is fully prepared to function under Mo Sarkar. Necessary capacity building, technology up-gradation and awareness efforts have been taken up.

The objective of the 'Mo Sarkar' programme is to provide service with dignity to people who are coming to government offices for different purposes.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Pratap Jena said the department is fully prepared to take up the challenges of providing better services to people under Mo Sarkar.

The H&UD Department has already opened Mo Sarkar Cells to facilitate the provisions of the initiative, he said.

Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy said that providing services to people in urban areas is an onerous responsibility, particularly, the areas of building plan, holding tax and water connection .

Five-T Secretary, V.K. Pandian interacted with the executive officers of several municipalities and NACs to assess the understanding of the officials on Mo Sarkar. He advised the officials that there should be no harassment.