Odisha Rejigs District Planning Committees; Ministers, MLAs Named Chairpersons

As per an official notification, key political leaders have been entrusted with the responsibility of steering district-level planning processes and ensuring the effective execution of development programmes.

Among the appointments, Ashok Mohanty will head the DPC in Angul, while Laxman Bag has been assigned Bolangir. Padmalochan Panda will oversee Balasore and Ashwini Kumar Sarangi has been given charge of Bargarh. Sitanshu Sekhar Mohapatra will lead Bhadrak, and Kanhai Charan Dang has been appointed for Boudh.

In other districts, Chhabi Mallick will head the committee in Cuttack, while Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari has been assigned Deogarh. Simarani Nayak will oversee Dhenkanal, and Works Minister Prithviraj Harichandan has been given responsibility for Gajapati.

Further, Purna Chandra Sethi has been appointed for Ganjam, and Amarendra Das will head Jagatsinghpur.

The government has also nominated chairpersons for the remaining districts, including Keonjhar, Khurda, Koraput, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Puri, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Subarnapur and Sundargarh.

Officials said the reconstitution of DPCs is intended to strengthen decentralised governance by improving coordination between rural and urban local bodies in the preparation of district development plans. The committees are expected to play a crucial role in integrating local priorities with the state’s broader development agenda.