Campaign For Separate District Status To Bhubaneswar Gains Momentum

Bhubaneswar: The campaign for grant of separate district status to Odisha capital Bhubaneswar has gained momentum with several organisations coming together to step up the demand.

A number of organisations and distinguished persons have joined hands to intensify the campaign under the banner of ‘Militat Mahamanch’. A signature collection campaign has been launched and a memorandum will be submitted to the government for grant of district tag to Bhubaneswar.

The campaign will be stepped up in three Assembly constituencies of Bhubaneswar as well as adjoining Jatni and Jaydev segments.

While Lingaraj Sahu is leading the movement as the convenor of the Mahamanch, Saroj Kumar Sahu is its coordinator. Former bureaucrat and ex-collector of Khurda Raghunath Mishra, former bureaucrat Alekh Charan Sahu, former chancellor of Sanskrit University Bimalendu Mohanty, general secretary of Kedarnath Research Institute Ramesh Chandra Pani, president of Poojapanda Niyog, Kashinath Poojapanda and a host of distinguished persons are closely associated with the campaign.

Emphasising that Bhubaneswar fulfills all the conditions and requirements to be granted district status, Mahamanch leaders said when Khurda district was formed in 1992, its population was around 11 lakh, but now it more than 22 lakh.

While all government offices are functioning in Bhubaneswar, the number of people in 3 Assembly constituencies has reached 12 lakh. Even before the reorganisation of 13 districts, the Justice Das Commission in its report had recommended the formation of Bhubaneswar as a revenue district, they said.

Late Satyapriya Mohanty, the then minister, had also proposed formation of a district in Bhubaneswar. Former Chief Minister, late Nandini Satpathy too had formed a committee under the chairmanship of a retired High Court judge over district status to Bhubaneswar, they said, adding this committee had also recommended district status.