Bhubaneswar : A total of 441 Junior engineers (Civil) today joined the State Government in the Water Resources Department. An induction programme was organized for the new recruits at the convention centre in Lok Seva Bhawan in presence of Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik. Addressing the new engineers, the Chief Minister called upon them to follow the 5T initiative. He said that with this initiative put in place, several major irrigation projects have been accelerated with application of modern technology. He expected all the new engineers to keep themselves updated in new technologies and bring innovative solutions to challenging issues. He further said, “Now that you are in public service, your sole responsibility is to serve the people with utmost transparency, sincerity and commitment. Our every action has a direct impact on the lives of people. We must be sensitive to the needs and aspirations of people and do our best to serve them.” The CM said that Water Resources is a critical wing of the State Government that looks into a multitude of development works making a significant impact on people from all sections of society. Engineers of this department take up various projects including provision of irrigation facilities to farm lands, protection from floods and resource development for drinking water, industries, fisheries and many other life changing activities, he added. Speaking on the projects of the department, he said that the State has more than 4 thousand dams and several others are under construction. The State Government has taken up construction of 30 In-stream Storage Structures in the first phase and another 41 will be constructed in second and third phase. These projects will help us in water conservation, rural water supply and help improve the ground water level which is emerging as a critical environmental issue everywhere. Joining the programme, Water Resources Department Minister Smt Tukuni Sahu said that farmers remain at the centre of CM’s vision of new Odisha. It is, therefore, the engineers of this department, who work for providing water to farmlands, have a very important role in state’s transformation, said the Minister. She further said that about 50 percent of the 441 new recruits are women. Sharing their experiences, two new engineers, Bishnupriya Samal and Jivan Jyoti Rout said that the recruitment process has been very quick and transparent with automatic choice locking system. In her welcome address, Development commissioner and ACS Water Resources Smt Anu Garg said that our department has a major role in farmers’ empowerment as we create water infrastructure for farmers. As the quantum and scale of work is increasing, she asked the new engineers to work as team, complete projects in time by using modern technology. She said that integrity is non-negotiable as we all are working for the state. EIC Shri Bhakta Ranjan Mohanty proposed the vote of thanks.