Bhubaneswar, May 18: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today said that 2013's cyclone Phailin and the 1999 super cyclone had moved him to decide for converting all mud houses in the state to pucca houses.

"When the Phailin was about to strike on October 12, 2013, the tragic scenes of 1999 super cyclone, which had devastated the state, agitated my mind. I thought that all the mud houses would be damaged. So, an idea occurred in mind how could the mud houses be made concrete to save them from nature's fury. So, my party promised concrete houses to all in the 2014 election manifesto," Naveen said, while dedicating 10 lakh pucca houses to the rural populace at an event held here today.

In the run up to the 2014 Assembly polls, the BJD had promised conversion of all mud houses to concrete houses in the next five years if it came to power. The promise was reiterated at the first cabinet meeting on May 2014, immediately after Naveen's council of ministers was sworn in for the fourth consecutive term.

Naveen claimed that construction of more than 10 lakh concrete houses had been completed within last two years and a target had been set to add 16 lakh concrete houses within next three years.

To spread the message of the success of this populist scheme named as "Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana" to the people across the state, Naveen ensured that all his ministerial colleagues and senior officials remained present at today's event in Bhubaneswar. He also interacted with district collectors and the beneficiaries through video conferencing.

Striking an emotional chord with the people, Naveen said that his illustrious father Biju Patnaik had dreamt of providing tiled houses to all in 1960s and he had reiterated this dream of providing a "decent roof" to all in 1992, when he was the chief minister for the second time.

Political analysts felt that Naveen was drumming up his success in implementation of this populist scheme for the rural masses as the panchayat elections were due in January-February next year.

Panchayati raj minister Arun Sahoo said that during the 2015-16 fiscal, the share of Odisha was 32 per cent in the houses completed in the entire country under the Indira Awas Yojana. "Odisha has become a role model for other states for its excellence in rural housing sector," he said.

He said that in the process of completing 10 lakh concrete houses, a special focus was given on destitute, widows, minorities and vulnerable tribal groups. Some 16,818 masons were imparted skill training to address the dearth of manpower in rural Odisha.