On June 12, four-time MLA and tribal leader Mohan Charan Majhi took oath as the first BJP Chief Minister of Odisha in the presence of Prime Minister Modi, ending the 24-year-old Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in the State.
Hours after taking the oath, the Mohan Majhi government held its first Cabinet meeting and took four major decisions that include opening of all the four gates of the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri from the very next day (June 13).
The State Cabinet also decided to create a corpus of Rs 500 crore for conservation, repair, renovation and management of the 12th-century shrine.
The Cabinet gave its nod to the proposal to increase the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy to Rs 3,100 per quintal. It also approved the Subhadra Jojana under which a cash voucher of Rs 50,000 will be provided to each women beneficiary which they can encash within two years.
Moreover, the State Secretariat reopened its doors to journalists after four years on June 12 evening, soon after the swearing-in ceremony of CM Majhi and his Council of Minister.
Lok Seva Bhavan, the State Secretariat, had remained out of bounds for journalists for almost four years with the outgoing Naveen Patnaik government having prohibited their entry into the premises.
In the last week of June, CM Majhi and two of his Deputy Chief Ministers, KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida visited Delhi and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several Union Ministers and discussed the various development issues in the state.
More than anything else, Chief Minister Majhi on July 1 revived in-person grievance-redressal sessions, addressing citizen complaints after a hiatus of 16 years. He personally listened to the grievances of people, issuing necessary instructions to officials concerned.
On July 10, the Majhi government in its second cabinet meeting announced a hike in the daily minimum wages of workers in various categories. It increased the minimum wage of unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled workers from Rs 352, Rs 392, Rs 442 and Rs 502 to Rs 450, Rs 500, Rs 550 and Rs 600 respectively.
The State Cabinet also announced Rs 200 crore for Odia Asmita and promotion and preservation of culture, art and heritage. The State government would build an Odia Asmita Bhawan, palm leaf manuscript museum, Odia translation academy, and a Paika Rebellion Memorial, e-library and Odia chair at national and international universities.
The state Cabinet also approved inclusion of 6 lakh farmers of the state under the PM KISAN scheme. All the farmers who were deprived to get benefits under the KALIA scheme will be included under the PM KISAN Yojana.
The State government also approved a proposal for appointment of over 18,000 junior teachers at primary and upper primary schools under the School and Mass Education Department.
Yesterday, CM Majhi initiated discussion on budget 2024-25 to be placed by him in the Assembly on July 25.
The Chief Minister today met all the stakeholders like industry associations, farmers organisations, Opposition leaders, former Finance ministers and others relevant to the exercise of the annual budget.
