Odisha: Random surprise check at district headquarters hospitals under "Mo Sarkar" initiative

The officials from Odisha government on Sunday conducted surprise check at district headquarters hospital in Puri, Dhenkanal and Jajpur under the "Mo Sarkar" initiative.

"Today random surprise checking was done in district headquarters hospital as part of successful implementation of Mo Sarkar initiatives. Three teams comprising of officials of CMO and health department visited DHH of Puri, Dhenkanal and Jajpur today," an official release said.

"Patients' feedback was taken and discussion with doctors on requirements to improve the health system," it said.

Health secretary Office on Special Duty (OSD) to CM D Kutey and Additional secretary to CM Rita Rani Mohapatra visited Dhenkanal district headquarters hospital (DHH) while Additional secretary to CM, Rupa Rosan Sahu, Joint Secretary Health Yamini Sarangi and Deputy Secretary to CM Manoj Swain visited Puri hospital.

OSD to CM Dilip Mohanty, Joint Secretary Health Poonam Guha Kumar and Joint Secretary to CM Aditya Mohapatra paid a visit to Jajpur DHH.

Earlier in the day, the Odisha government suspended Sundergarh's Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) in-charge Pankaj Patel for alleged negligence of duty while implementing the 'Mo Sarkar' initiative.

The state government also issued a showcause notice to district collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan for alleged lapses in implementing the programme in the Sundergarh District Headquarters Hospital.

The move came following the visit of Secretary of Transformation and Initiatives VK Pandian to the hospital to review the healthcare facilities.

This is the first action taken by the state government after the launch of the initiative earlier this month.

Taking to Twitter, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik tweeted: "Such action will continue to be taken against negligence in duty and harassment to public in Government offices like police stations & hospitals. In our democracy where people are the true masters, the Government machinery must strive to serve people professionally and ethically."

On October 2, the Naveen Patnaik-led government had launched the citizen-empowering 'Mo Sarkar' programme on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti in a bid to promote transparency in governance.

'Mo Sarkar', which means 'My Government' in Odia, is a transformative initiative of the 5-T programme, which was introduced by Patnaik after he returned to power as the Chief Minister of the state for a fifth consecutive term earlier this year.

The 5-T mantra is based on the philosophy that transparency, teamwork, technology and time that leads to transformation.

Under the new initiative, the chief minister and other ministers will call common citizens to seek their feedback on the kind of response and service they received when they visited the government facilities.