For long now, Odisha had the reputation of being one of the poorest Indian states among others. The state on the eastern coast of India battles natural disasters like floods, cyclones, etc. almost every year. But recently, we have been hearing positive and empowering things from the state. So much so, that it won’t be wrong to say that Odisha is leading the way and setting examples for the rest of India.
Here’s a few initiatives and success stories from the state in the recent past that make us proud.
1. Odisha is the first state in India to launch children-friendly reading and activity centres at police stations with the aim of mending the public-police divide.
These centres are known as ‘Anand Ghar’ and have been designed like any other children’s room. The initiative called ‘Let’s Read’, will involve reading books, learning computers and other fun activities for children.
2. Two villages of Odisha have been recognised as ‘Tsunami Ready’, a first in the entire Indian Ocean regions.
Venkatraipur village of Rangeilunda block in Ganjam district and Noliasahi village of Ersama block in Jagatsinghpur district have been acknowledged by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO for greater preparedness to face the tsunami disaster.
3. Odisha is the first state in the country to receive ISO certification for hostels meant for tribal students.
4. Odisha CM announced Smart Health Cards for its citizens to provide free and quality healthcare facilities.
The state government will issue digital Smart Health Cards to 3.5 crore people in the state. These cards will work as debite cards up to a certain amount.
5. Puri is the first city in India to have city-wide access to safe drinking tap water.
Following Puri, the state governments aims to achieve this in other cities too.
The State Government has planned to cover all urban areas of Odisha by March 2022, making it the first state to do so in India. Supplying drink-from-tap quality water to every home, similar to developed nations like USA, England, Japan, Singapore.
6. Odisha is the proud state to sponsor the Indian National Hockey teams that performed expectionally well at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
In 2018, Odisha had signed a ₹100 crore deal with Hockey India for sponsoring the men’s and women’s teams for 5 years. Now when the contract is getting over in 2023, the state government has once again expressed its willingness to sponsor both the men’s and women’s teams for the next 10 years.
7. Odisha is the first Indian state to present a climate budget in 2020.
This is a huge step to further climate change mitigation policies and strenghten the state’s preparedness.
8. India’s first dedicated and the largest hospital for treatment of Covid-19 patients, became operational in Bhubaneshwar when the pandemic struck.
The exclusive Covid hospital is equipped with 500 beds including 42 critical beds.
9. Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha, became first city in India to have vaccinated 100% of its population against Covid-19.
The state recently also crossed an important landmark of completing two crore vaccinations.
10. Odisha set an example for the entire country with its mission to empower women and children.
Mission Shakti, the programme launched by the Odisha government has helped over 70 lakh women become self-reliant, both financially and socially.
11. Three senior IAS officers in Odisha joined the government’s ‘Mo School’ campaign and adopted three schools for development.
12. IAS and IPS officers from Odisha, who are also doctors, donned the hats of medical practitioners to help deal with the COVID-19 situation.
An Indian state and its achievements not many people know of.