Chief Minister’s important step towards strengthening service delivery at the village level

Gayatri October 20, 2025

1 minute read

Bhubaneswar, October 20 : Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi today took an important step towards strengthening service delivery at the village level. The foundation stone has been laid for the construction of 471 new Gram Panchayat Offices (Panchayat Bhawans) in 28 districts, excluding Nuapada. The Chief Minister participated in the program through a virtual session from Lok Seva Bhawan.

The Chief Minister said, “Service, not administration, is the foundation of our government. We are working to make Gram Panchayats public service centers.”

Each Gram Panchayat Bhawan will have separate offices for Sarpanch, Panchayat Nirvahi Nirvahi, Junior Engineer, Village Rozgar Sevak and Data Entry Operator. A modern multi-purpose building will be constructed for this. The state and central governments will jointly spend ₹35 lakh for each building.

The Chief Minister announced the first installment of ₹40,000 to 48,689 beneficiaries under the Antyayodaya Griha Yojana. The target is to construct 5,00,000 houses between 2024-25 and 2027-28, at a cost of Rs 7,550 crore.

Beneficiaries who complete their houses within 4 months will get an incentive of Rs 20,000 and beneficiaries who complete their houses within 6 months will get an additional Rs 10,000.

Along with the houses, all the beneficiaries will be provided with toilets, tubewell water, 95/90 days’ wages and other amenities. This is a strong step towards providing permanent shelter to the poor, destitute and vulnerable families.

Minister for Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Ravi Narayan Nayak said, “Gram Panchayat Bhawan is the central hub of rural governance; many decisions and development schemes start from here.”

Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, Director Panchayati Raj Department Vineet Bhardwaj, Secretary Girish S.N., and Special Projects Director Siddharth Shankar Swain were present. Ministers, MLAs, Panchayat representatives and officials from across the country joined virtually.