I will be ambassador for Odisha,” said Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami.While talking to Chief Secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra here on Sunday, Goswami said, “Whatever proposals you will be sending to the Union Government, keep me in loop so that I will be pursuing the matter.”
For the first time, a Union Secretary was found to be taking so much interest in the State which was normally absent in an “impersonal atmosphere in the Central Secretariat”, said a Principal Secretary of the State Government.
Goswami said that while the State Government should try to dovetail their demands to the various programmes of Union Government for long-term solutions and the copies of the proposals should be marked to him.
He said the State should differentiate between immediate relief and long-term restoration and should, accordingly, pose its demands. Unless the State differentiates between the two, it cannot get the benefits as the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) norms are very clear in this regard, he said.
Goswami said the State Government needs to do an audit of the jobs done before and after the Phailin took place. Thus, the State would be able to know what it has achieved and where it failed and it would be helpful for future guidance, he said.
The Chief Secretary pointed out that at the first place the accurate predictions of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) helped the State. Secondly, an effective use of the mass media came to the rescue of the people in the vulnerable zones.
Thirdly, an institutionalised disaster management capability developed in the State after the 1999 Super Cyclone was helpful. Fourthly, an advanced deployment of the Armed Forces in the calamity zones and their effective handling of the situation were also a great help. This time, a seamless coordination between the Central and State Government agencies helped the State immensely, the Chief Secretary said.