By Nageshwar Patnaik in Bhubaneswwar, June 11, 2025: Russian-born anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer Emma Goldman said, “Politicians promise you heaven before election and give you hell after.” Promises Are Meant To Be Kept. Promises are like hearts, they aren’t meant to be broken.

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Odisha, led by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, completed one year in the coveted office on Wednesday (June 11), it is worthwhile to examine whether the saffron party has kept its poll promises.

The rightwing BJP came to power by blaming the former chief minister Naveen Patnaik over two decades of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) rule for Odisha’s underdevelopment. Both the state and central leadership of the BJP promised that a “double engine” government—where both state and central governments are led by the BJP—would ensure greater ideological coherence, policy alignment and smoother cooperation, thereby accelerating development processes in the state with the backing of the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It is needless to say that the Majhi government has proved itself to be people friendly unlike the previous Naveen Patnaik led government with the former stressing on grievance redressal as the basis of its political narrative. Incidentally, the BJP’s focus on grievance redressal is in stark contrast with the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government. The BJD launched ambitious grievance programmes, but they were marred by poor execution and spectacle-driven campaigns led by V.K. Pandian, former bureaucrat and close aide of Naveen Patnaik. In the last one year, the chief minister has been personally managing grievance redressal by conducting weekly hearings at the CM’s grievance cell every Monday. So far, he has conducted 10 such hearings.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Majhi said, his government has demolished the artificial wall between the common man and the people. “Today, anyone can meet their Chief Ministers and Ministers without any hindrance. In the last one year, I have visited every district of Odisha and met lakhs of people directly, listened to their problems, shared their joys and sorrows. Today, the ‘Third Floor’ is coming to the doorsteps of the people, this is a new aspect of our good governance,” Majhi asserted.

State government data speak for it. Some 10,234 grievance pleas have been received in a recent public grievance hearing conducted by Majhi himself with 8,524 (83%) resolved. Some 68,756 (80%) of the 85,650 pleas submitted through various platforms since June 2024 have been addressed. However, the Majhi government’s performance is being questioned due to bureaucratic apathy leading to the inordinate delay in the movement of files at the top levels of the state administration severely impeding development works. The chief minister is understood to have marked in a note sheet recently that despite introduction of Odisha State Workflow Automation System (OSWAS), it is seen that files are not getting cleared at different levels of the government without any valid reason.

He also expressed his anguish over the fact that budgeted funds on schemes are not being spent properly because of the delay in file work, he warned that this will create a negative impression on the performance of the government. At least 16 out of 44 departments have failed to spend even half of their allocated funds by the end of January.

The departments with lowest utilisation are Disaster Management (13.5 per cent), Sports and Youth Services (19.77 per cent), Steel and Mines (20.5 per cent), Mission Shakti (23 per cent), Odia Language, Literature and Culture (27 per cent), PR&DW (38 per cent) and Tourism (38 per cent), Law (42 per cent), ST&SC (43.6 per cent), H&UD (44.8 per cent), Energy (46 per cent), Transport (47 per cent) and Electronics and IT (47.4 per cent). Of a whopping Rs 2.77 lakh crore budget including Rs 12,155 crore supplementary allocations approved for 2024-25 fiscal, the 16 departments account for around Rs 71,000 crore.

On top of it, during one year reign of BJP in the state, the law and order situation continues to deteriorate on a daily basis. Odisha currently ranks 8th in the country in terms of per capita crime rate growth, recording a 3.8% per capita increase in crime. The state is witnessing an alarming spike in heinous crimes such as rape, while incidents of burglary and theft are also on the rise. The BJP government has failed to maintain law and order, which is its fundamental responsibility.

Understandably, the current BJP leadership has little exposure to modern public policy-making geared toward economic growth and development. This has led to the underutilisation of central government funds, resulting in an 18.19% reduction in disbursements from the Modi-led central government. Ironically, the BJP-led Union government has withheld funds from its own party’s government in Odisha due to this inefficiency.

Better employment opportunities, better health care and schools, availability of safe drinking water are top three priorities of citizens followed by the need for better roads and public transport. Nearly 12 lakh educated youths in Odisha, including 4.28 lakh women, are unemployed and registered with employment exchanges. Majhi recently said that in one year only 27,428 youths have been provided with jobs. This leaves more than 10 lakh youths without a job.

What is worse is the alarming state of health and education in the state. Schools, colleges, and universities across the state suffer from an acute shortage of trained teachers, lecturers, and researchers. Similarly, hospitals face a severe lack of doctors, nurses, essential medicines, and basic medical equipment necessary for diagnosis and treatment. The BJP government in Odisha has failed to address or improve these critical sectors reminding one and all of the oft quoted saying, “Promises are meant to be broken”.