Odisha Enforces Strict Seven-Day Deadline for Uniform Place Names Across District Establishments

 KEONJHAR: The Odisha State Government has issued an executive directive to all District Collectors, mandating the strict, uniform adoption of revised English spellings for official place names on government signboards, nameplates, and public documentation, with a seven-day compliance deadline to eliminate lingering inconsistencies. Issued by Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, the administrative order requires district heads to conduct comprehensive reviews and submit formal compliance reports within one week, following observations that several government offices continued to display outdated colonial-era spellings despite an earlier deadline. The directive follows a Cabinet decision and a Gazette notification published on June 22, 2026, aimed at aligning English spellings of cities, towns, and administrative units directly with their authentic Odia phonetic pronunciation, with government offices originally given one month to adopt the changes while private institutions were allotted six months.

Under the standardized nomenclature, Angul is officially revised to Anugola, Balasore to Baleshwar, Cuttack to Kataka, and Kendrapara to Kendrapada, while outdated regional spellings like Jeypore and Soro must be systematically updated to Jayapur and Sora, respectively. District Collectors—including in Keonjhar—have been instructed to personally inspect government offices, public institutions, transit hubs, and revenue offices to ensure 100% compliance, with the department emphasising that maintaining consistency and uniformity in official place names is essential for effective implementation of the State Cabinet decision and that continued use of outdated spellings creates administrative ambiguity. In addition to enforcing the mandate across state-run facilities within one week, Collectors have been advised to actively assist private enterprises, commercial establishments, and non-government institutions in adopting the revised spellings ahead of their prescribed six-month deadline.

                                                                                                                           Report: Amal K Mathew