As the Majhi government tries to shake up the shadow of the previous administration, close to two dozen schemes, targeting different segments of the population, have been renamed with some tweaks here and there.
For instance, KALIA, the erstwhile Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government’s scheme to provide monetary support to farmers, has become CM-Kisan. The Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, which provided cashless medical treatment up to Rs 6 lakh to the poor, is now called the Gopabandhu Jana Arogya Yojana. Ama Odisha, Naveen Odisha—the BJD government’s flagship rural welfare scheme—is now called Viksit Gaon, Viksit Odisha.
These initial changes reflected a lack of clarity, leaving many to wonder if this is going to be the first-time CM’s governance model, a senior bureaucrat told ThePrint.
But Majhi is now finally said to be coming on his own. He is putting his own team in place to advise him as he steers the government ahead, shaking up the influence of party veterans in Odisha, who are well-entrenched in Delhi, several people including BJP leaders, ministers, former and serving bureaucrats told ThePrint.
‘Accessible CM’
There are also some visible differences from the previous BJD dispensation that the people are talking about. One of the common refrains from the people is that Majhi is “accessible” unlike Naveen babu.
Majhi holds a janta darbar every Monday, where he along with officers meet people for two hours, listens to their grievances, and directs officials to resolve them at the earliest.
“A CM holding a public grievance meeting every week was unheard of during Naveen Patnaik’s long reign. He had not just stopped meeting the public. He rarely met his own officers and party leaders,” revenue and disaster management minister Suresh Pujari told ThePrint.
The last time Patnaik heard people’s grievances at the CM Grievance Redressal cell was way back in 2008, a senior bureaucrat in the Odisha Secretariat said.
Last month, Majhi also moved to the two-storey official residence of the chief minister in Bhubaneswar, a first after over 24 years. Throughout his tenure, Patnaik did not move to the CM residence and instead chose to run his office and administration from Naveen Niwas, his personal residence, through his trusted aide V.K. Pandian, a former bureaucrat.
The iconic Rabindra Mandap, a cultural hub, in Bhubaneswar also dons orange paint | Moushumi Das Gupta | ThePrintWhile many in Odisha call these gestures “mere optics”, there are others who think that through the CM’s Grievance Redressal cell, Majhi is not only trying to increase his government’s citizen outreach but also restore the primacy of political leadership vis-à-vis bureaucracy.
“In the last 24 years of the BJD rule, except for Naveen Patnaik, its elected political leadership had taken a backseat. It was the bureaucracy through Patnaik’s trusted lieutenant Pandian, which dominated the decision making process,” the bureaucrat, quoted earlier, said.
Brushing aside charges that the BJP government only repackaged and relaunched the BJD era schemes, Pujari said that is not the case. “The Majhi government has come up with their own flagship initiatives including those to empower the women and landless people,” the BJP minister, who was also a former MP, said.
From Subhadra to enlarging canvas for landless
Pujari said that soon after the Majhi government took oath, the cabinet approved important proposals including opening the four gates of the Jagannath temple in Puri, which was shut for the public since the Covid pandemic broke out in 2020, launching the Subhadra scheme, and increasing the Minimum Support Price for paddy.
“Which government has taken key decisions soon after taking oath?”
The Subhadra Yojana, he said, will empower approximately one crore women. The scheme will provide financial assistance of Rs 10,000 to all the eligible women annually, for five years.
ଗଞ୍ଜାମ ଜିଲ୍ଲାର ବ୍ରହ୍ମପୁରଠାରେ ରାଜ୍ୟର ୧ କୋଟି ମହିଳାଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ସୁଭଦ୍ରା ଯୋଜନାର ଦ୍ଵିତୀୟ କିସ୍ତି ପ୍ରଦାନ ବ୍ୟବସ୍ଥାର ଶୁଭାରମ୍ଭ କଲି। ଅନ୍ତର୍ଜାତୀୟ ମହିଳା ଦିବସ ଅବସରରେ ୯ ମାସର ନୂଆ ସରକାର ଆଜି ରାଜ୍ୟର ୧ କୋଟିରୁ ଅଧିକ ମହିଳାଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଆର୍ଥିକ ସ୍ୱାଧୀନତାର ରାସ୍ତା ଖୋଲି ପାରିଛି । ସବୁ ମା’ଙ୍କୁ ୨ଟି ସୁଭଦ୍ରା କିସ୍ତିରେ ୧୦… pic.twitter.com/tVpE4qocPh
— Mohan Charan Majhi (@MohanMOdisha) March 8, 2025
The government will also amend the Odisha Prevention of Land Encroachment Act, 1972 to change the definition of homesteadless persons (those who do not have any piece of land) that will ensure that there are no homeless people in the state, the revenue minister said.
“We have enlarged the canvas by bringing an amendment that a person having less than four decimal (125th of an acre) land will be treated as homesteadless,” he said.
Besides, the government has also proposed that contrary to what was happening earlier, a homestead person who has been given land by the administration won’t be able to transfer it. The land will be heritable, not transferable.
“The cabinet has already cleared the amended bill. It was tabled in the just concluded assembly session. But it could not be taken up because of frequent disruptions and adjournments,” Pujari said. “There should be no comparison between 24 years of the BJD rule and 10 months of the BJP’s. Our government is not only bringing landmark changes but also drawing up plans to boost investments in the state and generate employment.”
An officer in the chief minister’s office cited the Utkarsh Odisha conclave that concluded last month in Bhubaneswar. “The government has signed about 50 MoUs with proposed investment to the tune of over Rs 16 lakh crore to the state,” the officer added.
Also Read: One half of Odisha’s IAS power couple & face of BJD’s Mission Shakti, Sujata Karthikeyan takes VRS
‘No big idea, no spark’
The BJP leadership might be talking about how the Majhi government hit the ground running and took decisions that their predecessors did not. But, there is a growing perception among the people that the government has failed to come up with a big idea in the 10 months that it has been in power.
“Nobody is expecting groundbreaking work in 10 months, but their unfamiliarity with running the government is apparent. There is no spark…no big idea that has come so far,” said a former chief secretary.
The CM being accessible is just good optics, the former bureaucrat said. “It does not make any tangible difference to governance. For service delivery, you need to look at other things.”
A serving bureaucrat admitted that there is lack of direction though he is quick to add that the CM is improving. “He is more sure and confident now than he was in the first few months. But for all major decisions, he looks to Delhi (meaning Prime Minister’s Office) for advice,” the officer said.
According to Namrata Chaddha, a Odisha-based women’s right activist, the Majhi government seems to be falling into the same trap as the previous BJD government.
She cites how the BJD government’s flagship Mission Shakti programme did little to empower women and make them self-sufficient. “They (government) just kept giving money to the Self Help Groups instead of building their competency in some core skills. Nobody benefited from it. Women did not get self empowered. Now, the Majhi government is doing the same thing through the Subhadra scheme,” the former member of Odisha State Women’s Commission said.
Chaddha said that just giving a dole of Rs 10,000 every year for five years will not help women become self-reliant. “Subhadra scheme is badly designed. You need to think of better ideas if you actually want to lift the women economically.”
Not a smooth ride ahead
There are challenges galore that the Majhi government is trying to navigate and it is taking time, both former and serving bureaucrats and BJP leaders admit.
“It is not an easy task. Take the bureaucracy, for instance. It had become so entrenched and accustomed to taking orders from just one man (read, Pandian) for most of the 24 years. Shaking them up is a challenge. It will take time for them to come out of their inertia and start thinking independently,” the retired chief secretary quoted earlier said.
Factionalism within the BJP is also posing an issue. Party leaders point at how 10 months after coming to power, the government has not been able to appoint chairpersons to at least 30 different corporations, boards and commissions.
CM Majhi had removed all political appointees from the post of chairpersons soon after coming to power last June.
“Head of corporations and boards are mostly political appointees. But there are so many different camps within the party that finalizing the candidates for the top post is taking time,” a BJP leader in the state said.
But BJP state president Manmohan Samal told ThePrint that there is no internal problem or groupism within BJP. “We work on the principle of collective leadership, collective responsibility and collective accountability. There is complete coordination with the elected government.”
On delay in appointing the head to different corporations and boards, Samal said that it will be done soon. “The process is on. We will discuss it with the government and finalize the names soon.”
Samal said that the perception that it is difficult to get work done by the bureaucracy is not correct. “When a new government comes, it runs the administration and bureaucrats implement the policies. There are no ifs and buts,” he added.
The opposition BJD has charged Majhi of leading a directionless government. Prasanna Acharya, deputy leader of BJD legislature party, told ThePrint that the Majhi government is not equipped to be in power and their inexperience is showing in all spheres.
“Exams to fill up vacant posts in the government have been held. Candidates have cleared the exams, but have not got their appointment letter in all these months. If somebody has cleared the exams, why is the government holding back their appointment letter?” he asked.
A senior officer in the Majhi government said that recruitments are happening after due diligence. “Appointments have started,” the officer added.
The biggest challenge, according to revenue minister Pujari, is the huge backlog of work that the BJP inherited from the BJD. “We are fixing a system, which has become ineffective after being in power for so long. It will take some time. Have patience.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: U-turn on Waqf Bill spurs unease within BJD, senior leaders ask Patnaik to declare his stand
