The Congress Government between 1980 and 1999 had nearly left Odisha hollow on all resource fronts. Biju Patnaik had made a single stint for five years in between. But the people of Odisha ditched the legend in 1995 to give the reins a third time to Janaki Ballav Patnaik. Eventually, the JB Government brought about the fall of the Congress regime virtually for good. The short-lived, insignificant tenure of Giridhar Gamang doesn’t even figure in history. By this time, Naveen Patnaik had arrived but had not landed on home turf for being part of the Union Government. Both Vajpayee and Advani were in awe of Naveen as a well-meaning statesman.
Naveen inherited an enormously impoverished Odisha with huge loan burdens, rampant corruption and a docile, inactive populace. Besides, the massive devastation wreaked by the Super Cyclone that had pounded the coast in 1999 had broken the backbone of ‘economic Odisha'. Despite frightening floods and droughts, the Congress Government had done little to bring in place an organised disaster response team for rendering emergency services like rescue, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
After taking over charge, how Naveen chose his aides and advisors is known to everyone. After a through political cleansing exercise, he had focused on massive reforms to make the life of ordinary masses comfortable. Aides and advisors kept changing as per circumstances; and Naveen took special care to make sure his chosen lieutenants were persons with proven integrity and skills. Thus, Naveen has never looked back in twenty years, which the world considers pure magic. Some observers say it is miracle while a few are of the view that Naveen is plain lucky.
All the same, renowned socio-political gurus have analysed Naveen's approach to come up with one finding: he handpicks real good advisors mostly from the bureaucracy to guide him with reason and logic. The career political bulk is sidelined on purpose because they have no heart or head for the suffering humanity.
Further, all political creatures, irrespective of antecedents, know too well they have no star power to move people to vote for them. Naveen has the charisma of the brightest star to attract all votes, particularly the poor communities. Because he is unmarried, leads a simple life, doesn’t accept salary and lives in his parental property, people trust him immensely.
Naveen had felt grossly inadequate on one particular count: the inability to manage natural disasters.The post-cyclone management was unforgivably poor due to lack relevant chronicles, exposure and the minimum skills. Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu had dispatched dedicated teams that did magnificent rescue, relief and reconstruction works to bring back life in the devastated Odisha coastal areas. The Andhra team even had picked stinky decaying dead bodies with hand and cremated them without cringing.
Naveen had never forgotten that unique help from Andhra Pradesh. On October 12, 2014, the monster cyclone Hud Hud ripped through Visakhapatnam in its landfall. The port city plunged into total darkness. By way of repaying a great old favour Naveen, within hours, dispatched a 550-strong team of fire fighters and disaster rapid action personnel to help restore ‘light’and put life back in order. The Odisha team had reached most affected locations before AP experts even arrived. Equipped with 60 sophisticated compact vehicles and armed with 260 power saws, cutters and other tools, the 453 personnel from Fire Services, Home Guards and Civil Defence wing of Odisha Police and 106 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force men cleared the roads blocked by uprooted trees and electricity poles and facilitated communication services.
The Odisha experts worked for four nights, a short time as one sees in a fairy tale movie. The Odisha team had spread out strategically to pickup pieces before across the cyclone-ravaged north Andhra Pradesh without waiting for any local help or hospitality. They were divided into 60-odd teams; and at least 11 of them stayed back in Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts while the rest proceeded to Visakhapatnam.
Before the Odisha team returned home, the AP Chief Minister made it a point to meet and talk to each member of the team only to express his State’s gratitude. Naidu made a loud public statement that Naveen Patnaik indeed was the best known ‘Good Samaritan' of India! Later again, Naveen had further stood by Chadrababu Naidu by extending all kinds of support during the reconstruction phase that lasted months.
In the present times, wherever or whenever there is talk of quality disaster management, natural or manmade, people across the world look towards Odisha. Not surprisingly, even USA masters have said Naveen Patnaik’s Odisha team guarantees the best quality disaster management: evacuation, rescue, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction. The latest visiting cyclone ‘Amphan' fortunately is likely to make its landfall in the Sundarbans. So, not much damage will happen to life and property. But Naveen Patnaik shall never say ‘no' to any State seeking critical help.
Needless to say here, even in the corona pandemic management, Naveen is a global pioneer. He was the first in India to clamp lockdown, the first to set up the biggest-capacity testing facilities and put up the maximum number of hospital beds with sophisticated equipments and medical personnel.
He is also the first to bring back home all Odia migrant workers without causing panic of infection by setting up quarantine centres for 5 lakh returnees in all respective village settings. Everyone is given free food, shelter and treatment if infected. Above all, any home-return aspirant registering name is rewarded with Rs 15,000, which ensures no one hidingly enters home in village. By these simple strategies, team Naveen prevented hidden or sly home entry of migrants that could have caused havoc by spreading infection as most afflicted persons do not show symptoms for nearly 21 days.
They say Maharashtra is leader in generating most money due to advanced technology, trade, commerce and industry; Gujarat is the champion of champions in successful entrepreneurship; Kerala the best in human development and good governance. Besides, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Bengal and many other States are routinely projected as great regions of wealth, health and happiness. But the true picture of today shows Odisha as the most ‘corona-safe' region in India, boasting incredibly impressive scores on parameters of prevalence, incidence, cure and death.
Naveen Patnaik is now hailed as the most popular administrator-ruler in India for keeping Odisha safe and happy, particularly when the unprecedented corona pandemic has rendered the entire human race witless and panicky.