Naveen Patnaik took oath as Chief Minister of Odisha, along with 20 other MLAs of the Biju Janata Dal who were sworn in by the Governor Ganeshi Lal on Wednesday. Patnaik chose to celebrate his becoming CM a fifth time with a wide section of society, artists, industrialists, his siblings and colleagues and in a particular the women of self help groups whose support made this feat possible.
The swearing in and oath of secrecy ceremony was thus held in an open ground large enough to accommodate everyone and not in the Governor’s house. His council of ministers saw only six previous ministers reappointed and included, first time legislators, two women, and even a couple who had switched camps, joining the BJD just before polls.
“It’s a nostalgic and personal journey for me to reminiscence the past 19 years. Today while I take oath of office for the fifth term, I humbly accept the responsibility that comes with the faith my 4.5 crore family members have reposed on me, yet again,” tweeted Patnaik. Congratulatory messages poured in for the CM from the President, Prime Minister and other political peers. PM Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations and added, “I assure complete cooperation from the Centre in working for Odisha’s progress.”
Patnaik’s sister, US based writer Gita Mehta, and elder brother Prem Patnaik were also present on the occasion.
Later in the day, in the first cabinet of his fifth term his government decided to expand the reach of the agrarian assistance scheme Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) to 75 lakh beneficiaries. Before polls 42 lakh farmers and farm labour had been covered by this scheme according to the state.
A proposal to provide Rs 1,000 crore worth of government business to Self help groups through ‘Mission Shakti’ was also cleared.
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