Bhubaneswar: BJD Whip Pramila Mallik, a senior leader and former Speaker of the Assembly, has been named Chairperson of Public Accounts Committee (PAC), reconstituted by Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy for the financial year 2026-27.
For the PAC specifically, 12 members under the relevant rules of procedure have been appointed. The committee includes Rama Chandra Kadam, Dr Aruna Kumar Sahu, Ganeswar Behera, Sanatan Bijuli, Akash Dasnayak, Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, Ashok Mohanty, Babu Singh, Santosh Khatua, Amar Kumar Nayak, and Arabinda Mohapatra. As one of the legislature’s premier financial watchdogs, the PAC examines reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and reviews government spending to ensure funds are utilised as approved by the Assembly and in line with established financial norms and propriety. This reconstitution is expected to enhance accountability and cross-party oversight in the coming fiscal year.
The Assembly Secretariat has also issued notifications detailing the chairpersons and members of different Standing, House, and Departmentally Related Standing Committees from different parties to strengthen legislative scrutiny of government functioning.
Senior BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra will chair the Estimates Committee, while Padmalochan Panda heads the Committee on Public Undertakings. Bhaskar Madhei will lead the Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Additional chairpersons include Jayanarayan Mishra for the Committee of Privileges, Irasis Acharya for the Committee on Subordinate Legislation, Prasanta Kumar Jagadev for the Committee on Petitions, Dusmanta Kumar Swain for the Committee on Papers Laid on the Table, and Ashok Mohanty for the Committee on Government Assurances. Actor-turned-politician Akash Dasnayak has been appointed Chairman of the Library Committee, and Simarani Nayak will head the Committee on Women & Child Welfare.
The Speaker has also set up nine Departmentally Related Standing Committees (I to IX) to review the performance of various government departments. These will be chaired by legislators including Sidhant Mohapatra, Santosh Khatua, Babu Singh, Purna Chandra Sethi, Bibhuti Bhusan Pradhan, Sudhir Ranjan Pattjoshi, Manohar Randhari, and Sanatan Bijuli.
Several House and Special Committees have been reconstituted to address key state issues such as the long-standing Mahanadi water dispute with neighbouring Chhattisgarh, development works at Shree Jagannath Temple, environmental pollution, power distribution challenges, displacement caused by development projects, railway expansion, boundary disputes with adjacent states, and concerns of linguistic minorities. These panels are tasked with examining policy implementation, scrutinising government actions, and submitting recommendations to the Assembly.
