By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, January 21, 2018: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday received ‘Adarsh Mukhyamantri’ (‘Ideal Chief Minister’) Award from former President of India Pratibha Patil during the 8th Indian Students Parliament held at MIT-World Peace University in Pune.

The award comes close on the heels of the Best Administrator award Patnaik received by India Today Group in August last year

Dedicating the award to people of Odisha, he said all 4.5 crore population in the state is his family.

“I dedicate this honour to the four and half crore people of Odisha who have reposed their faith in us for the past 17 years and continuously blessed us.”

Addressing the students at the function, he spelt out the rasons behind his success in politics. Quoting Martin Luther King’s “You cannot lead people, Unless you love them”, Patnaik said this has been guiding political philosophy.

“If you love your people, you do not see the post you hold as a post, but as a means to serve the people. You do not see power as power, but as a means to transform the lives of people. All the negative associates of politics – power, wealth and position dissolve into nothingness, if you love the people”, the CM said.

Patnaik also underscored the need for good governance “Good governance and selfless public service are the pillars of democracy. The biggest challenge before all of us today and especially for my younger friends is –how to strengthen governance and instill public service-in turn strengthening democracy,” he remarked.

“Twenty years ago I was a political novice. I would have never imagined that I will be standing here as one of the longest serving Chief Ministers of the country. Today, I can say with conviction, that politics is not complicated. Politics is the most powerful instrument to bring about change in the lives of people. And so it follows that if people are kept at the core of your intentions, efforts and initiatives, then there is no complication,” Patnaik added.

He also spoke about human evolution and the technology that revolutionize our daily lives.

“With passage of time, everything evolves to its higher form –that is the beauty of the human quest for perfection. Take any field- Biology, Mathematics, Medicine, Information Technology, we have made giant strides. In fact, the last 200 years have been the most dramatic years in human evolution. Who would have thought that TWITTER and FACEBOOK will become such integral parts of our lives and social relationships? That, Big Data, Block Chains and Nano-Technology will revolutionize our daily lives like never before,” he said.

However, all of us will agree that the evolution that one would have liked to have in governance and public service is still to be achieved, he said.

He said that more number of people needs to join politics, which he described as the powerful means to work towards development of people.

He remembered Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy that continue to inspire him.