Bhubaneswar: The Mohan Majhi government on Thursday completed 100 days in office. During the period it has fulfilled some of its key pre-election promises and addressed long-standing issues. At the same time it has drawn flak over certain lapses and goof-ups.
Here follows Odisha Bytes’ report card of BJP’s maiden government in Odisha:
Key Pluses
1. After 4 years of restricted access, all four main gates of the revered 12th-century temple – Singhadwara (Lion Gate), Ashwa Dwara (Horse Gate), Vyaghra Dwara (Tiger Gate), Hasti Dwara (Elephant Gate) – were opened on June 13 morning in presence of the CM and his council of ministers.
2. Opening of Ratna Bhandar, the temple’s treasury, after nearly four decades was another another historic event.
3. Increasing Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy from Rs 2,100 to Rs 3,100 per quintal is another major announcement of the Majhi dispensation.
4. The BJP government also rolled out its flagship initiative, Subhadra Yojana, a welfare scheme aimed at empowering nearly one crore women across the state through direct benefit transfer. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the scheme at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar on his birthday with much fanfare on Sept 17. Though the BJP had initially promised cash vouchers worth Rs 50,000 to be encashed over 2 years to eligible women in Odisha under the scheme, it has gone for Rs 50,000 cash benefit in five years with stricter eligibility criteria.
5. Projecting himself as the ‘People’s CM’, Majhi attends the Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell unlike his predecessor Naveen Patnaik. The CM’s public grievance hearing was revived after 16 years. It is being seen as a step towards greater transparency and accountability in governance.
Major Minuses
1. The BJP government faced criticism for lack of coordination among the CM and his Cabinet colleague and frequent u-turns in decision making, including total prohibition in the state, Orissa high court bench in western Odisha, renaming of the prestigious Biju Patnaik Sports Award and holding of campus polls this year.
2. It was dubbed as a ‘name changing’ government as it rechristened several flagship schemes of the previous BJD government, including Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, Ama Odisha, Nabin Odisha, KALIA, Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana, Biju Setu Yojana, LaccMI and Make in Odisha Conclave. “They (BJP) have renamed more than 40 schemes of my government as their own,” said Naveen Patnaik, implying that the BJP government of the state lacked vision and was borrowing heavily from him without giving him any credit.
3. It also sparked a controversy by announcing to reopen BJD health minister Naba Das murder case. It further added that a few other heinous past crimes – assassination of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in 2008 and mudder of Kalahandi teacher Mamita Meher in 2022 – will be re-investigated. But no visible steps have been taken in this regard.
4. The government has also not made its stance clear on investigating the missing keys of the treasury. Lord Balabhadra’s idol falling on its face during Rath Yatra attracted widespread criticism.
5. Buckling under pressure, the Mohan Majhi government also reversed its decision to allow alcohol in beach shacks on Puri beach, demonstrating lack of clarity on its excise policy. Hooch deaths in Chikiti added to its woes.