I am honoured and humbled to receive the Outlook Speakout's Best Administrator Award from former President Shri Pranab Mukherjee I thank Outlook for the recognition of Odisha's journey. It is indeed a proud moment for Odisha and Odias across the globe. I dedicate this award to the 4.5 crore Odia people.
I remember the day I took oath of office as Chief Minister of Odisha for the first time. It was the year 2001. The super cyclone had just caused huge devastation and loss of precious lives. Odisha ranked low on almost all socio economic indicators and was burdened by poverty, debt and low growth rates.
It was a difficult time. The blessings of Lord Jagannath and the faith of our people empowered us to work hard.
I picked Agriculture as one of my topmost priorities knowing that the majority of our people depended on it. From a state doing subsistence agriculture - Odisha is today the third highest contributor to the PDS playing a major role in the food security of the country. We are the only state in the country to have doubled farmers' incomes in the last decade. Focus on irrigation, timely provision of quality inputs and agricultural credit at low rates have been key.
The journey has been a tough one, but it is worth every minute of it. 8 million people have come out of poverty in the last decade with Odisha posting the sharpest drop in poverty nationwide- 24.61 percentage points.
Cyclones are frequent in Odisha causing death and destruction. The handling of cyclone Phailin saw us setting global benchmarks in disaster management .
Our record on IMR was abysmal - at 96 points. Today we are at 40 which is better than the national average and have achieved the biggest reduction among all states, which in humanitarian terms translates to saving of 51,000 more babies annually.
Womens' empowerment is the keystone of my governance. Our "Mission Shakti" focussed on holistic empowerment. We have today nearly 60,000 women leaders in our Panchayati Raj institutions from the ward members to the Zilla Parishads.
This is not the end. We still have a long way to go. We share a dream to make Odisha the Number One state in India. Will work hard to honour your faith and make it a reality.
Jai Jagannath.
Bande Utkal Janani.
