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STATES: ORISSA
Gratefully Yours
The 'Man of Letters' has something to show for his
management of flood relief in the state—a sackful of congratulatory
letters
By Ruben Banerjee
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PERSONAL TOUCH: Naveen helping in relief operations; and the laudatory
letters (top)
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One epithet that
has clearly stuck to Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in recent months
is that of "Man of Letters". However earnest his motives, Naveen's
penchant for dispatching letters to one and all seeking quick remedies
for Orissa's various ills has spawned jokes and inspired derisive comments
from his opponents. The chief minister is no good, apart from being a
postman, they had smirked. But now they may have to eat their words. Because
this time it is the letters that prove his popularity.
If Naveen is writing letters, his subjects are
writing many more. "After the floods, it's a deluge of letters that
has swamped us," says an official in the chief minister's secretariat.
Letters of complaints to chief ministers is routine and during his initial
months in office, Naveen too received them in dozens. But now, they pour
in hundreds. What's more, most of them contain no complaints, only compliments
to the chief minister. The sacks full of post cards and envelopes signal
good tidings for Naveen. Unfortunately, hard pressed for time, neither
the chief minister nor his staff can spare much time for the letters which
find their way to the waste paper baskets. But the motley collection plays
an important role: they serve as indicators of Naveen's sudden popularity.
Orissa is reeling under the worst floods since
Independence, but its chief minister's reputation has hit safe waters.
Dubbed as meek and indecisive initially, Naveen has proved his detractors
wrong. In July, he dropped three of his ministers on charges of corruption,
which was anything but a meek move. And soon after, his supervision of
the largest relief operations in the state refuted any charges of indecisiveness.
Naveen has proved himself to be an able administrator. These two developments
have caught the popular imagination and the chief minister is being feted
with compliments. "The letters are competing with each other in thanking
the chief minister," says an aide.
Evidently so. Poet Brajanath Rath wrote in from
his village home in Balasore that the chief minister "has proved
himself to be a worthy son of Biju Patnaik". Krushna P. Satpathy
from Bilasuni remarked in his postcard that "Orissa will remain ever
grateful to Naveen for giving the state an honest and efficient government".
While a majority of the letters thank the chief minister for his tough
stand on corruption, quite a few talk of the timely relief measures undertaken
by the Government.
Officials and party men are unanimous that Naveen
deserves the accolades. While sacking the ministers needed political courage,
the flood relief required foresight and firmness. Though the relief and
rescue operations left some room for improvement, there is little doubt
that these were infinitely better managed than Giridhar Gamang's efforts
during the supercyclone of 1999. "The crisis brought forth the chief
minister's real character," gushes Panchanan Kanungo, a Biju Janata
Dal legislator.
As village after village got submerged in flood
waters marooning millions of people, Naveen himself took charge. He abandoned
the earlier practice of forming ministerial committees and established
a clear line of command. Officials were given a free hand in their assigned
tasks, but Naveen insisted on accountability. The ministers' sacking also
served a purpose. With fear of reprisals in the air, the bureaucracy delivered
like never before. Naveen led by example. Coming early to office, the
chief minister would personally call up district collectors and additional
special relief commissioners to enquire about the progress of the operations.
If the officials' response happened to be that they had all they needed
and the chief minister need not bother, the instant reaction was, "But
I want to be bothered." Naveen is not a leader to be satisfied with
platitudes.
The bureaucracy deserves some credit as well.
A workaholic chief secretary led a motivated force. Within hours of the
news of the floods trickling in, senior officials were rushed to the vulnerable
districts. The operation was decentralised and food supplies were stacked
in various districts, instead of Bhubaneswar. The experience of the supercyclone
came in handy. Many of the senior officials who supervised the relief
measures had also worked during the cyclone. "Lessons had been learnt,"
says a senior officials.
Glitches remained. In some areas relief reached
late, but there was no place where relief did not reach. That by itself
is quite an achievement given that more than 80 lakh people have been
displaced and crops in over nine lakh hectares of land destroyed. Many
more have lost their only source of livelihood. The economy will take
months to recover from the shock.
For the time being, however, it is the relief
operations which are in the limelight. An ongoing survey commissioned
by the Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority also reflects well on
the BJD Government. The feedback is quite encouraging. Grassroots workers
are of the opinion that more often than not political interference impedes
relief and rescue operations. But in this instance, the Naveen Government
played a positive role. Kendrapara and Jajpur have been adjudged the two
best managed districts.
The survey did highlight some shortcomings:
in Jajpur a bridge reconstruction was held up because a politician had
recommended four contractors for the job. Another submerged district had
a sadder tale to tell. It badly needed boats and after frantic calls some
power boats did arrive, but there were no trained drivers to ply the boats.
The boats lay idle for days. But overall, it was an efficient job and
the Government can claim all the credit.
FOR the chief minister, it is more than a question
of brownie points. He avoided the customary aerial surveys of marooned
villages during the floods so that the administration could concentrate
on relief operations. But now when the waters have receded, he is making
daily visits to the interiors to meet the people face to face. Popularity
dividends are flowing in. "By not visiting the districts during the
floods, Patnaik helped the administration. By visiting now, he is helping
himself," comments a senior official.
With good work done, there is a political harvest
to be reaped and Naveen is already in the middle of a victory lap, travelling
around to receive applause. He even visited Patkura, the stronghold of
his bitter rival Bijoy Mohapatra, president of the Orissa Gana Parishad.
Few grudge Naveen his tours. Natural calamities
usually spell trouble for the party in power, but in this case Naveen
has managed to use it to his advantage. While thank-you letters pour in,
people from among the crowd step out to express support for the chief
minister. Like the old woman who stuffed a hundred rupee note in the hands
of a bemused Naveen the other day during his visit to Cuttack district.
"Take this money and spend it for relief," the woman said. Many
like her have come to the conclusion that Orissa under Naveen Patnaik
is in good hands.
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