Odisha to add 4,000 more villages ahead of next year’s panchayat polls

The move is likely to lead to more posts of sarpanch and panchayat samiti members ahead of next year’s panchayat polls, bringing more electoral benefits to the ruling Biju Janata Dal

Published on: Jul 29, 2021, 12:17:54 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Ahead of the panchayat elections in February next year, the Odisha government will declare 4,000 hamlets in the state as revenue villages, taking the total number of villages to over 57,000 and ensuring the extension of government schemes and benefits to more people.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has approved a proposal of the revenue and disaster management department for streamlining the process. The move is likely to lead to more posts of sarpanch and panchayat samiti members ahead of next year’s panchayat polls, bringing more electoral benefits to the ruling Biju Janata Dal.

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In his letter to district collectors, revenue secretary Bishnupada Sethi said a hamlet separated from its mother village by a natural barrier can be reorganised as a new revenue village even if the population of the hamlet is less than 250. He also asked collectors to not insist on reservation limits for gochar and communal lands for the creation of new revenue villages.

As per the guidelines, hamlets with a population of 250 and above and located at over half-a-kilometre away from the mother village will be accorded a revenue village tag.

“Some executive instructions issued in the past for reservation of land in the course of settlement and consolidation operation have been misinterpreted by field officers while considering hamlets for the creation of new revenue villages. This deprived the proposed revenue villages of resources, which would have been otherwise available under different government grants and schemes,” said Sethi.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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