By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, April 17, 2020: Odisha is famously known as the disaster capital of the country. But Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has ensured that people are protected from such disasters. In 1999 when the state was devastated by the super cyclone which killed 15,000 people and rendered 16 lakh homeless, there were chaos and confusions across the state.

But Naveen once was sworn in as chief minister on March 5, 2000, he developed a system to deal with disasters effectively. Today, his determination has facilitated the state to withstand the virulent attack by coronavirus. Last Thursday, the Chief Minister once again exhibited his prescience and announced an extension to the ongoing lockdown till 30 April, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Chief Ministers. Mr. Patnaik has also urged the Centre to stop train and flight services to the State till 30 April. Government also decided that schools and other education institutions will remain closed till 17 June 2020.

Patnaik also took crucial decisions such as setting up of multiple specialty hospitals across the state, with the largest such hospital having a collective capacity of 1,000 beds, to exclusively deal with Covid-19 cases, giving four months’ advance salary to doctors, medical and paramedical staff and donating his own three months’ salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund have encouraged his counterparts to follow suit.

Incidentally, the 1,000-bed hospital was made functional within a record 15 days. Whenever a number of Covid-19 patients have been found in a particular locality, such areas are immediately sealed off, while ensuring that supply of essentials remain undisturbed. These lightning fast responses to the situation and the absence of a proverbial ‘policy paralysis’ that seems to afflict most Governments, have proved to be very effective in keeping the cases to a minimum in the state. While the State has kept the situation under control, retired doctors and nurses have been requested to re-join service temporarily, with the State Government offering them lucrative honorariums.

Odisha has shown how to live up to the challenge is a story to tell at least on the basis of evidence till date. Odisha took off early. It put in place an “action plan” to deal with the Covid-19 situation early in March. It set up a Covid-19 helpline number before the lockdown was announced.