Bhubaneswar, June 15: As it appears, Odisha’s new CM Mohan Charan Majhi is bent on shaking the shackles of bureaucratic legacy of his predecessor Naveen Patnaik. The excessive “excessive bureaucratic influence” on the governance system is beginning to crumble if the indications of Majhi’s two-day works are any indication.

The CM, who took oath of office on Wednesday evening, told reporters on Friday that he and his ministers will directly interact with the people to listen to their grievances and try to address them.

In the past 48 hours, the CM has interacted with many common people, slum-dwellers and lower-grade state government employees and listened to their problems and plights.

On Friday, the CM held his office even though it was a holiday for the first day of the state’s major cultural festival Raja Utsav and reviewed the functioning of the administration in the past two decades. Chief Secretary P K Jena and secretaries of all other departments were present in the review meeting.

Some of the top officers who were in the coterie of V Kartikeyan Pandian seem to have lost smiles on their faces as they know they have to shift from the state of answering to Pandian to their political bosses. The CM’s enquiry on why some officers were continuing for years on specific posts have also sent chills down the spine of certain sections of bureaucrats.

During the review meeting, the CM was surprised to know that many of the departments had outsourced their activities to private consultancy firms. Besides, he found that some officials were serving in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and other important offices for decades.

Sources said the CM Majhi has asked the chief secretary to furnish details on the officers on re-engagement of officials

It has been learnt that no official could clearly provide any satisfactory answer to the Odisha CM during a review meeting on performances of various departments.

Majhi reportedly rapped the officials for such lapses and inefficient administrative mechanism and functioning: and, he has sought a clarification, sources said.

Political analysts speculate that there could be a major bureaucratic reshuffle in Odisha to set things right.

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