Bhubaneswar: In a significant administrative move aimed at strengthening grassroots development planning, the Odisha government on Wednesday announced appointment of chairpersons for District Planning Committees (DPCs) across all 30 districts in the state.
According to the official notification, 30 ministers and MLAs have been entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing district-level planning and development initiatives.
The full list of appointments is as follows:
Ashok Mohanty – Angul
Laxman Bag – Balangir (BAlangir)
Padmalochan Panda – Balasore
Ashwini Kumar Sarangi – Bargarh
Sitanshu Sekhar Mohapatra – Bhadrak
Kanhai Charan Dang – Boudh
Chhabi Mallick – Cuttack
Suresh Pujari – Deogarh
Simarani Nayak – Dhenkanal
Prithiviraj Harichandan – Gajapati
Purna Chandra Sethi – Ganjam
Amarendra Das – Jagatsinghpur
Akash Dashnayak – Jajpur
Tankadhar Tripathy – Jharsuguda
Sudhir Ranjan Pattjoshi – Kalahandi
Uma Charan Mallick – Kandhamal
Durga Prasan Nayak – Kendrapada
Fakir Mohan Naik – Keonjhar
Prasanta Kumar Jagadev – Khurda
Raghuram Machha – Koraput
Narsinga Madkami – Malkangiri
Bhaskar Madhei – Mayurbhanj
Gouri Shankar Majhi – Nabarangpur
Dusmanta Kumar Swain – Nayagarh
Jay Dholkia – Nuapada
Om Prakash Mishra – Puri
Nityananda Gond – Rayagada
Krushna Chandra Patra – Sambalpur
Raghunath Jagadala – Sonepur
Durga Charan Tanti – Sundargarh
Notably, the posts were lying vacant for over 15 months following the change in government in the state, leading to hurdles in developmental activities. The DPCs, constituted under Article 243ZD of the Constitution, are mandatory in districts with a population exceeding 20 lakh to consolidate plans prepared by Panchayats and Municipalities.
