Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday called upon the new batch of assistant executive engineers to keep themselves abreast of the new technologies in field of water resources.
Speaking at the orientation programme for 275 graduate engineers who joined the State Water Resources department as assistant executive engineers, the chief minister said, “Technology is changing rapidly and it is important that all of you update yourself with the latest trends in your field. I am sure all of you will work hard and with dedication and sincerity towards the development of the state.”
Stating that Odisha has a huge potential in irrigation and hydro power, Naveen said the government will continue to invest in water resources development and they will have a prominent role to play in the coming years.
The chief minister further said Odisha is predominantly an agrarian state and irrigation is a vital parameter for the prosperity of agriculture and farmers. “We have been making huge investments in the irrigation sector over the years. 10 major dam projects, 50 medium dam projects and more than 2500 minor dam projects are currently operational in the state. Work for major Dams like Lower Suktel, Deo, Kanupur and Subarnarekha are in full swing and will be completed soon,” he said.
This is the second batch of assistant executive engineers comprising 183 male and 92 female engineers. As many as 242 of them are in Civil Engineering stream and 33 in Mechanical.
Water Resources Minister Shri Raghunandan Das, chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, principal secretary, Water Resources department Anu Garg and other senior officers attended the programme.
Secretary to CM (5T) VK Pandian spoke on the importance and various factors of 5T Initiative.