Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday asked the district collectors to put special focus on implementing the state government’s flagship programmes such as Mission Shakti, Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, School Transformation, Tourism Promotion, Sports and ensure that welfare initiatives reach all the legitimate beneficiaries.

Naveen made his stance clear while inaugurating the two-day collectors’ conference here at the Lok Seva Bhawan.

The collectors’ conference is being organised at a time when the administration is facing criticism for its failure to reach the doorsteps of the people.

“I would like to see all our development projects implemented in the shortest possible time and our welfare initiatives reach all the legitimate beneficiaries. There should be a competition among districts for the realisation of goals, and set benchmarks for others,” Naveen said.

Stating that Odisha has taken a lot of transformative initiatives in sports, healthcare, women empowerment, skill development, crop production and Covid management, Naveen said: “At the district level, collectors and district administrations are required to reach out to more and more people, find out issues of concern, and use technology to sort them out in a faster and simple, hassle-free manner,” the chief minister said.

He urged the collectors to focus on farm mechanisation, crop diversification, horticulture and floriculture, dairy development and fisheries.