Govt directs ULBs to have five basic needs by Dec 2023

Bhubaneswar: A one-day state-level orientation of MUKTA coordinators and community organisers (COs) was held at Lok seva Bhawan here recently.

G. Mathi Vathanan, principal secretary H&UD department addressed the participants and urged them to strive to achieve speed and scale without negotiating quality and transparency in the implementation of MUKTA. He too directed all the 2,055 wards of 115 urban local bodies (ULBs) to have five basic needs like park, gym, paver road, open space and drainage by end of December 2023.

MUKTA takes a community-driven, participatory, and bottom-up approach, ensuring transparency and accountability throughout the entire execution ecosystem.

In the last three years, around 52,500 projects have been implemented across 115 urban local bodies in the state under MUKTA programme, benefiting around 6 lakh urban poor and migrant labourers, of whom close to 40 per cent are women beneficiaries.

About 26,455 Mission Shakti groups and slum dweller associations have partnered in MUKTA for the execution of about 52,500 projects.

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Sangramjit Nayak, director Municipal Administration, shared the vision and objectives of the capacity building workshop on the effective implementation of MUKTA. “Community organisers and Mukta professionals in the ULBs play a key role in providing techno-managerial support and extending end-to-end facilitation support to Mission Shakti groups and slum dweller associations for smooth execution of the MUKTA scheme, which would benefit urban poor and migrant workers at large in terms of gaining livelihood opportunities at their doorsteps. The team must strive hard to make the vision of the honorable Chief Minister a reality and make continuous efforts to reach the last mile and make a mark in the urban landscape of the state through the implementation of MUKTA.

Sarada Prasad Panda, joint secretary and nodal officer told that MUKTA—Mukhya Mantri Karma Tatpara Abhiyan—is an integrated urban public works programme introduced in the middle of the Covid pandemic for providing a socio-economic safety net by providing rapid mass employment opportunities for the migrant and informal workers.

He also presented the three-year achievement and future planning and asked the professional to cope up with the changed situation and work accordingly.

Additional secretary Durgesh Nandini Sahoo gave the welcome speech. Among others additional secretary Binay Das, Sanjay Pramanik, OSD-cum-special secretary, Sudhakar Pahi, chartered accountant and advisor to H&UDD and others spoke on the occasion. All the Cos and MUKTA professionals from 115 ULBs attended the programme.