Ex-Bureaucrat Launches Diatribe Against Odisha Govt

Bhubaneswar: Retired IAS officer and former chairman of the Odisha Food Commission, Ranglal Jamuda, has severely criticised the state government for its governance.

In a Facebook post, Jamuda has said that the state government had claimed to be the pioneer in e-governance after the enactment of the Right to Public Services Act. Soon after the enactment, some departments had come forward to offer specified services to the people within the timeline, failing which the competent authorities can impose penalty on the erring employees.

“While all these details were initially made available in the public domain, these commitments are neither being honoured nor have the websites been updated in the last few years,” he pointed out.

He said after the new Act failed miserably, the state government, in a bid to cover up its poor governance, made another announcement of the 3T (Technology, Transparency & Teamwork) policy to serve the people much better. “In fact, nothing much happened after the announcement of this policy,” he added.

Jamuda further said that the state government, soon after the recent general elections, came up with another announcement with 5T (Technology, Transparency & Teamwork, Time limit for action and Transformation) policy to deliver timely services to the people. This was followed by the latest ‘natak’ (drama) titled Mo Sarkar (my government) as if it was somebody else’s Sarkar previously. This much-vaunted initiative, which became operational on October 2 and is presently limited to the Home and Health and Family Welfare departments, will cover the remaining departments by March 31 next year.

“The above facts clearly indicate that the system of governance is not gaining any momentum and each time there has to be a powerful push to inject fresh life into it. Has it (state government) become a thela gadi (pushing cart)? If not, what is the point in enacting such a drama?” Jamuda asked.