Bhubaneswar: Secretaries and senior officers of various departments have been asked by the state govt to undertake two to three-day visits to districts allotted to them within Oct with a focus on reviewing the implementation of govt schemes, healthcare services, infrastructure projects and basic facilities at the grassroots.Development commissioner-cum-additional chief secretary Deoranjan Kumar Singh, in a letter to the officers, said they should plan to spend at least one night at the district or sub-divisional headquarters during their visits. The exercise is aimed at enabling senior officials to get a first-hand assessment of the implementation of various people-oriented schemes and programmes of the state govt as well as centrally-sponsored schemes.The officers have been asked to supervise the implementation of important govt schemes and programmes and interact with people from different walks of life to understand their experiences and assess whether the benefits are reaching the intended beneficiaries. They will also review the progress of infrastructure projects during their field visits.Healthcare delivery has been identified as a key area for review. The officers will visit district headquarters hospitals, PHCs and CHCs, interact with patients and their attendants, and assess the availability of essential services, human resources and medicines. They have also been directed to review fire-safety compliance, emergency preparedness and the overall quality of healthcare delivery at these health facilities. The exercise is intended to provide the govt with a first-hand assessment of gaps in healthcare delivery and the functioning of health institutions.The officers will have to randomly select areas for visits, including inaccessible, hard-to-reach and tribal-dominated areas. They have also been asked to review schemes relating to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) wherever applicable. The field visits will also include at least one gram panchayat, where the officers will assess the level of saturation in the coverage of various development and welfare programmes aimed at providing basic facilities to people.The govt has also directed the officers to review ongoing drinking water supply projects, identify bottlenecks and flag issues causing delays to the concerned authorities for timely intervention. It has further stressed the need for early completion of functional household tap connections aimed at providing piped drinking water to rural households.
