By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, September 4, 2022: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was conferred with a lifetime achievement award by the Capital Foundation Society (CFS) at India International Centre, New Delhi, on Sunday.

The award was given to Pattnaik in recognition of his distinctive and outstanding leadership qualities. Former Chief Justice of India NV Ramana presented the award in the presence of Justice AK Patnaik.

“I dedicate this award to the 4.5 crore people of Odisha who have been continuously blessing me to serve them for the past 22 years.
The faith they have in me is the biggest inspiration to work towards an empowered Odisha.

Odisha has come a long way in the past 22 years. After the super cyclone of 1999, who would have thought that Odisha will set global benchmarks in disaster management and get awarded by the United Nations.”

“Odisha, which was known for ‘poverty’, is now known for fastest ‘poverty reduction’ in our country. Our governance model rooted in empowerment of women is something which we are truly proud of.

Similarly, empowerment of tribal communities has always been close to my heart and Odisha leads the country in providing land rights under the Forest Dwellers Act”, he added.

Naveen claimed that more than half a million tribal girls study in our hostels. “Farmers have always been the backbone of our state and their hard work has fetched the state the Krishi Karman award four times. Odisha is the only state to have doubled farmers’ incomes.

Odisha produces the maximum steel and aluminum for the country. I should mention here that Odisha increasing her steel production by nearly 10 times in the past two decades has helped the country during the Covid crisis,” he said.

Odisha supplied life-saving oxygen to 17 states during the Covid pandemic and in the manufacturing sector, Odisha attracts the maximum investment in the country, Naveen remarked saying that Odisha is set to host the Hockey World Cup twice in a row and has set up high performance centres in various sports.

Odisha, the sports capital of India, has set standards for other states to follow. Skilled in Odisha is a brand which not just Odisha but the country is proud of.

Land rights for slum dwellers in urban areas made global urban planners rethink and have a serious look at our model of empowering slum dwellers. Our path-breaking health initiative ‘Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana’ provides near universal health assurance to more than 80% of people of Odisha.”