Bhubaneswar, Jul 2: The Odisha government appointed 195 additional Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) and Odisha Revenue Service (ORS) officers as Executive Magistrates to strengthen law and order arrangements in Puri during Rath Yatra 2026.

The Revenue and Disaster Management Department issued a notification on June 30 conferring executive magistrate powers on the officers.

The latest deployment comes after the General Administration and Public Grievance Department had earlier appointed 23 senior OAS officers as Executive Magistrates for the annual festival, taking the total number of such appointments to 218.

Appointment Under Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita
According to the notification, the appointments have been made under Section 14 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.

The officers will function as Executive Magistrates in Puri district from July 1 to July 27, 2026, covering the entire Rath Yatra period and associated rituals.

Key Responsibilities During Festival
The appointed officers will be responsible for maintaining law and order, regulating crowd management, ensuring public safety, assisting in traffic management, and facilitating coordination among various government departments during the festival.

Officers From Multiple Departments Included
The list includes Deputy Collectors, Assistant Collectors, Additional Tahsildars, Deputy Commissioners and other revenue officials from districts across Odisha.

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Officers from several departments and organisations, including the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC), IDCO, the Special Relief Commissioner's (SRC) office, Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya Sangathan (OAVS), Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC), Commerce and Transport Department, School and Mass Education Department, and the Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) Department, have also been assigned executive magistrate responsibilities.

Joining Deadline Fixed
The Revenue and Disaster Management Department directed all concerned departments and district collectors to relieve the appointed officers immediately so that they can report to the Puri Collector by July 2.

However, the department clarified that officers currently engaged in Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) duties and Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-related election work should not be relieved until those assignments are completed.