Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said on Monday the state’s cities must be developed as economic hubs that create new opportunities for youth, promote entrepreneurship and generate employment.
“Our cities are not merely places to live, they are centres of employment, enterprise, education and prosperity,” the CM said at the state-level celebration of Local Self-Government Day-2026.
Majhi directed officials and employees of urban local bodies to provide services to citizens with dignity and respect, calling for greater use of technology, simplification of procedures and time-bound resolution of public grievances that will bring about a change in working culture of municipal institutions.
The CM, who announced a special package of Rs 560 crore for infrastructure development in 28 newly constituted Notified Area Councils (NACs), urged urban local bodies to work towards making every city an engine of Odisha’s economic growth.
Institutional initiatives
A number of institutional initiatives were launched. Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed between the Odisha Urban Academy and Sri Sri University, the Indian School of Business and the National Institute of Urban Affairs for capacity building of urban local bodies.
An MoU was also signed between CRUT and Sri Sri University.
Majhi also launched OSWAN Video Conferencing facilities in 115 urban local bodies, along with the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana–Bandhu initiative and the Odisha Yatri SOS App.
Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra said he was giving importance to infrastructure development not only in major cities but also in smaller NACs and municipalities. He also called for collective efforts to build a clean and addiction-free Odisha.
Chief Secretary Anu Garg said Odisha has set a target of 40 per cent urbanisation by 2036 and 60 per cent by 2047.
