Bhubaneswar, Aug 31 (IANS) In a major announcement, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday announced that the state will have 16 new Notified Area Councils (NACs) and seven municipalities.
CM Majhi made the announcement in his address during state-level Local Self-Governance Day celebrations held in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
The 16 NACs include Baramba, Narasinghpur and Salipur in Cuttack district, Gondia in Dhenkanal district, Patrapur and Jagannath Prasad in Ganjam district, Chandikhole of Jajpur district, Narla and Jaypatana in Kalahandi district, Tangi in Khordha district, Borigumma in Koraput district, Kaptipada, Jashipur and Rasagobindapur in Mayurbhanj district.
Similarly, Karanjia in Mayurbhanj, Boudh of Boudh district, Bhanjanagar, Aska, Chhatrapur, Kabisuryanagar and Polasara in Ganjam district have been announced as the new municipalities.
It is worth noting that the Chief Minister has recently announced the creation of 21 NACs in the state. Meanwhile, the formal notification about the formation of 12 NACs has already been issued by the Odisha government.
The state will have 28 new NACs with the 16 new NACs announced by CM Majhi on Sunday.
In his address on the occasion, CM Majhi instructed the Department of Housing and Urban Development to ensure that all open drains in municipalities across the state are covered by April 2026.
He also directed the department to ensure the municipalities become pothole-free by that period. Greeting the people over the Self-Governance Day, Majhi said: “We have a dream to create ‘Samruddha Odisha’ or a progressed Odisha by 2036. The urban areas of the state are the reflections of development. Therefore, our objective will remain unfulfilled unless the roads in urban areas are maintained clean and pothole-free.”
He also asked the Housing and Urban Development department to ensure that no complaints regarding roads filled with potholes in the urban areas are raised during the grievance hearing in April next year.
Majhi further added that by April 2026, all municipalities should self-certify that their roads are pothole-free.
The Chief Minister stated that in order to bring governance to the grassroots level and to provide quality services to the people at the last mile, Local Self Government is an important system.
He also stated that if the officials of local bodies and representatives at grassroots level perform their duties sincerely, then there would be no need for the ministers, MLAs, or MPs to get involved in small local matters.
He also advised the local representatives to be responsible towards addressing people’s concerns. Advising local representatives, the Chief Minister urged them to be more aware and responsible in addressing the concerns of the public.
On this occasion, CM Majhi on Sunday announced the expansion of the ‘Sahayog’ programme, supported by Tata Steel Foundation, to all urban areas to ensure all the people in municipalities access various government schemes.
He also launched a 24×7 toll-free number ‘1929’ (Sahar Sathi) where people can share their grievances, queries and proposals. He also inaugurated ‘Sahar Sathi’ call centre.
CM Majhi on Sunday also launched several other important programmes and initiatives on the occasion.
–IANS
gyan/pgh