Odisha, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Maran Maran’s personal involvement lent the credibility of the compensation process. | Photo Credit: Neither
When the BJP government in Odisha, led by the main Minister Mohan Charan Maran Maran, approaches the first anniversary, her emphasis on the complaint became the cornerstone of his political narrative.
Since he took over the office in June last year, Mr. Majhi personally supervised the complaint of prosecution and made a weekly hearing in cm in the complaint every Monday. These meetings, which are attended by key ministers and secretaries, provide a platform for thousands of people, including disabled people, seniors and people who urgently need help to express their concern.
Despite the logistics challenges, the main minister persisted in participating in these hears and has resolved a number of questions, including requests for medical assistance, land and property disputes, pensions and public infrastructure fears. So far he has made 10 such hears.
Contrasting approaches
The focus of BJP contrasts with the previous government of Biju Janata Dal (BJD), whose ambitious complaint programs were campaigns based on execution and glasses led by VK Pandian, former bureaucrats and close efforts of former Minister Ptnaik. This effort, especially before the 2024 elections, was transferred to the Public Relations Fiasco, contributed to the growing disappointment of the public and eventually played an important role in the electoral defeat of BJD.
In an effort to projection a practical approach, Mr. Majhi recently eliminated hearing about Bhubanesware complaints. Last month he organized a complaint in Sambalpur in Sambalpur, a key district in Western Odisha, and announced this month hearing in Berhampur, the main center in Southern Odisha. “This will be provided to the marginalized communities of the platform to express their concerns,” said a higher government official.
The BJP government has also introduced a system with one window within the auxiliary minister fund, which allows financial approval on urgent medical cases. In recent CMs, CM approved 30.5 GBP Lakh from the fund for 24 people with serious health conditions.
According to state government data, 10,234 lawsuits were received during Monday’s hearing, with 8,524 (83%) to be resolved. In total, 68,756 (80%) were solved from 85,650 reasons submitted on various platforms since June 2024.
However, the effectiveness of the compensation system is questionable, and critics say that the focus of the government on high -ranking hearing distracts attention from the strengthening of the mechanisms from below at the level of districts and blocks, where most of the complaints come.
While the BJP decision to organize hearing outside Bhubaneswar has been offered as an effort to decent the administration of public affairs, several politicians consider it a calculated effort to screen the availability and consolidate the party’s image before the future elections.
The BJP, which was aware of the failure of the BJD government, avoided the obvious spectacle, but the risks fell into a similar trap by favoring visible leadership over institutional reform.
Deeper challenge
Meanwhile, Mr. Majhi’s personal involvement has lent the credibility of the compensation process. However, experts argue that the party must face a deeper challenge of transformation of a system used for a political leverage into one that brings meaningful results, because years of performative policies have disrupted public confidence in Odisha and blurred the boundary between narrative and reality.
Published – May 13, 2025 01:18 IS
