Education Reform: The education system needs revamping to produce qualitative students. The government should focus on making education accessible and qualitative, aiming for 100% literacy by 2036.
Healthcare Improvement: The healthcare sector is in disarray, with private hospitals exploiting patients. The government needs to implement corrective measures, ensure ethical practices, and provide better healthcare facilities.
Digital Literacy: The government should extend internet facilities to all corners of the state, establish digital libraries, and promote digital transactions. It is also essential to develop and implement Odiya language computer software.
Environmental Care: The government should prioritize environmental protection by promoting renewable energy sources like solar panels and providing subsidies for their adoption.
Poverty Reduction and Self-Employment: The government needs to boost micro, small, medium, and cottage industries by providing guidance, funds, and infrastructure. This will help reduce poverty and increase self-employment opportunities.
Tourism and Heritage Preservation: The government should focus on developing the tourism sector and preserving historical sites like the Idgah Grounds at Cuttack.
The Thinkers’ Club has discussed over Zoom Platform in its 105th meet discussing the priorities that will need immediate attention of the new government. The 25 years rule of the BJD is over. The state is expecting new people friendly, growth oriented policies. The different schemes implemented by the previous government need critical scrutiny. The schemes that are pro citizen need to be only continued and those of which were eye wash and directed towards retention of power only, need to be scrapped.
The Government needs immediate focus on the Education system of the state. The students of the traditional schools have scored in competitive examinations like the IAS, Bank Officers selection in the past. The present education model is not producing qualitative students. Education is a business in the state and gone to a shameful level. The private sector has invested huge fortune in the sector and Bhubaneswar is considered as an educational hub in the country. The institutions need revamping and different orientation. Before the year 2036, Odisha should be a state with 100% literacy .
Health care facilities are in doldrums in the state. The private sector is exploiting the sick people. At the same time, the state managed hospitals and primary health centers are malfunctioning. Ministers and other vips are referred to the private hospitals by the doctors in public sector. The guaranteed schemes and insurance schemes are largely feeding the private players and the sick are physically and financially tortured. There are some good and reputed organizations working in the sector but they are limited in number. Health care providers need to work ethically and adhere to the strict norms of the government. The present Government is required to implement corrective majors and seal the loop holes.
The Government needs to introduce digital literacy at the grass roots. Internet facility needs to be extended to every corner of the state. All villages need to be provided with digital libraries to emancipate knowledge everywhere. Monetary transactions, especially that deals with the Government need to be routed through digital means. There is a necessity of using Odiya language in computers. The much announced free odiya computer software by the earlier government has not materialized. The new government should take steps in this direction. The free software available over the net is not complete and not suitable for major activities, this may be noted.
Environmental care should be at the top of the agenda of the new government. To augment this, there is a need to explore the use of solar panels and other forms of renewable energy resources. The government need to provide solar panels at ease and may be some subsidies provided for acquiring and operating.
Poverty elevation and boosting of self employments is of paramount concern for the Government. The population of 4.5 crores needs to be provided with decent and proper income. For this, there should be emphasis on micro, small, medium and cottage industries. These sectors need to be provided proper guidance, required funds and adequate infrastructure. The scenery as on today is not favorable. The banks do not provide loans to the fresher. The complicacy in the tax laws, especially the GST is a negative factor in the growth of small businesses. Marketing is a critical task for the sector. No tangible effort is taken relating to this in this sector. It will be never possible for the government to provide govt jobs for all citizens. The state is an agro based economy. The new Government needs to boost agriculture and industry along with service sector.
There is a need to boost the tourism sector in the state. There is also necessity to preserve the past glories and heritage sites. The Idgah Grounds at Cuttack is a historical pious place. The struggle for independence and unification of the state of Odisha started from this place. Kulabrudha Madhusudan, started the Utkal Sammilani from this site. It is unfortunate that nothing significant is carried here to commemorate the past. The Chief Minister should put this as priority in his agenda of glorifying Cuttack.
This webinar was started with the introductory speech of the President of the Club, Shri Barada Prasanna Das. Sahadeb Sahoo, IAS, former Chief Secretary of the State inaugurated the meet. Sj Bibek Pattanak, IAS, was the Chief Speaker. Ramesh Chandra Mishra, IAS, Aurabinda Behera, IAS, Sanjay Panda, IAS, Pradeep Kumar Biswal, IAS, spoke on different activities where the new government need to focus. In their concluding remarks they said, Odisha is a state, where natural resources like the mines, rivers and forest are in plenty but due to our inefficiency, ours is a poor state in the country. The new Government needs to focus on growth of entrepreneurship in the state.
Dr Dippayan Pattanayak, Niranjan Panda, Pratap Rout, Rajat Satapathy, Binode Mohanty, Guru gobinda Das, Subas Sahoo participated in the discussion with the panelists. While offering the usual vote of thanks the President of the Club said that, a memorandum will be mailed to the present Chief Minister Mr Majhi stating the opinions of the elite speakers of the meet very soon. In the next meet, there will be discussion on the need for development of IT Sector in Odisha.
The following persons have attended the meet.
Barada Prasanna Das, Umasankar Misra, Bibhudutta Mohanty, Sahadeb Sahoo, Gangadhar Sahoo, Adv Spandan Mohanty, Ajay Mohanty, Aurabinda Behera, Balmiki Nayak, Benjamin Patro, Binod Mohanty, Charudutta, Dinesh Kumar Nayak, Dippayan Pattanaik, Biswajit Mohapta, Rajat Kumar Satapathy, Dr Ashutosh, Gurukrushna Das, Keshab Sahoo, Lokanath Nayak, Madan Mohan Sethi, Nanda Nandan Das, Pradip Biswal, Pramode kumar Satapathy, Pratap Rout, Ramesh Chandra Mishra, Sanjay Panda, Rita Dubey, S.K.Pattanayak, Subash Sahoo, Sudhakar Patri, Surjya Das, Swadesh Pattanak, Vivek Pattanaik , Keshab, Rohit kumar Sahoo, Dr Debi Prasad Pattanaik and many more in the U.Tube.
Bibhudutta Mohanty managed the technical aspect of the meeting. Interested persons, who have missed the meet for any reason, can see the proceedings on the U tube.
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