Odisha should aim for rank among top three states: CM

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar: Propped up by its performance in the ease of doing business, Odisha government today underscored the need to strengthen its position and climb up towards top three ranks by bringing in more reforms.Chairing a high level meeting at the State Secretariat here, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directed all concerned departments to implement the pending reforms by December 2015 and complete the next phase of reforms by February 2016.The Chief Minister said, “I would like our state to be ranked amongst the top 3 states in the country with respect to Ease of Doing Business.All concerned Departments must learn from the good practices implemented by other states and expedite implementation of reforms”.Patnaik directed the Chief Secretary to monitor the implementation status of the reforms on a monthly basis, and the progress report should be sent to his office. The CM himself would review the progress every two months.Focusing on the ground level implementation, he said, “It is important that these reforms are not just made on paper but also implemented by all concerned in true spirit.Industries Department should carry out a third-party assessment to ascertain the quality of implementation in the field.”It may be noted here that in September 2015, Odisha was ranked at No.7 with 52.12 points in the ease of doing business among 32 states/union territories. In January, this year, the DIPP had shared 98 action points for business reforms to enable ease of doing business.Now there are 344 action points drafted for next phase of reforms.The State has performed relatively better in setting up business, allotment of land and obtaining construction permits, complying with environment procedure, tax procedures and carrying out inspections.Industry Secretary Sanjeev Chopra highlighted the next phase of reforms requirements for Odisha. Commercial Tax Department, Energy Department, Labour Department, Housing & UD Department, Industries Department, Law Department, Pollution Control Board, Revenue and Disaster Management Department were asked to complete the next phase of reforms as early as possible.Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Bijayshree Routray, Industries Minister Debi Prasad Mishra, Steel, Mines and Labour Minister Prafulla Mallick, Housing and UD Minister Puspendra Singh Deo, PR and Law Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo, and Energy, IT Minister Pranab Prakash Das were present in the meeting.