Bhubaneawar, May 29: The Council of Ministers’ meeting headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday passed the resolution to make disaster and pandemic preparedness a part of the curriculum of the schools and colleges.
“Every student, elected representative, government official, Misson sakti members, and so on will be trained in disaster and pandemic preparedness. This is a historic step and will enable and empower our future generations to withstand the vagaries of nature whether its biological or climatic,” said Chief Minister Patnaik in his address.
The Council of Ministers’ meeting was held to mark the two years of the fifth term of the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD Government in the State.
Patnaik said Odisha will stand out in saving peoples lives. It flows from our realisation that community preparedness is key to disaster management, he said.
“Even before the start of the 5th term of this government, we had to face the challenge of Cyclone Fani in May 2019. Since then over the last two years we have been continuously dealing with the devastating impact of the cyclones and the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s a period of unprecedented crisis and we are trying our best to protect our people,” said Patnaik.
“The Pandemic has created a unique situation where the lives and livelihoods of people are at stake. In spite of all the challenges, we are quite confident that we will emerge victorious in this crisis with the cooperation of the people of the state, and continue to carry forward the good work for the transformation of Odisha,” added Patnaik.
Briefing the decisions, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said that the Council of Ministers has resolved to train people at large on how to deal with emergencies and how to respond to situations where the outcome cannot be predicted
‘A task force will be formed to carry forwad this mission of building a disaster and pandemic resilient Odisha,” said Mohapatra.
