Argus News - Odisha Unveils ₹22,713 Crore Budget for Revenue and Disaster Management

Bhubaneswar, Mar 24: The Odisha government has unveiled a comprehensive budget proposal of ₹22,713.33 crore for the Revenue and Disaster Management Department for the financial year 2026-27.

 

The allocation, outlined under Demand No. 03, includes ₹14,420.35 crore for administrative expenditure and ₹8,292.99 crore for programme expenditure.

 

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi emphasized the need for a responsible, efficient, transparent, and proactive administration. To achieve this, the department has introduced several innovative and people-oriented initiatives, including digitization of land records, strengthening IT infrastructure, disaster preparedness, and technology-driven service delivery.

Also read: EAM S Jaishankar Meets Iranian Ambassador over West Asia Conflict

 

Key Budgetary Allocations

 

For 2026-27, ₹829.30 crore has been earmarked for new projects such as construction of residential and non-residential buildings, IT infrastructure upgrades in revenue offices, land protection measures, procurement of furniture and fixtures, and implementation of hi-tech surveys.

 

Breakdown of the allocation:

• ₹565 crore for building construction, including ₹500 crore for non-residential projects and ₹65 crore for residential facilities
• ₹50 crore to strengthen IT systems in revenue offices
• ₹15.31 crore for protection of government lands across the state
• ₹15.05 crore for advance survey and map publication
• ₹24.32 crore for digitization of pre-1995 documents
• ₹5 crore for the purchase of essential furniture and fixtures for revenue offices
• ₹5 crore for scanning of old records in registration offices
• ₹1 crore to improve service delivery and strengthen infrastructure across all field offices under the department
• ₹90 crore for a new rehabilitation scheme for displaced families in Ganjam’s Noliasahi village.
• ₹55 crore for the upcoming census operations, scheduled to begin in April

 

Citizen-Centric Reforms

 

The government has prioritized reforms to make services more accessible and transparent. Initiatives such as Basundhara, School Patta, New Revenue Villages, NAKSHA (urban land record modernization), Online Demarcation, Online Registration, and the Shree Jagannath Land Protection Cell are already operational.

 

The “E-Registration Odisha” mobile app has simplified registration services, enabling online slot booking, issuance of encumbrance certificates, and certified copies. Over 60,871 registrations have been processed through the app to date.

 

Land and rehabilitation measures:

• For land identification, a fully computerized online service has been launched, through which 34,914 applications have already been submitted and are being resolved.
• Under the Basundhara scheme, 28,531 landless families have been allotted 4 decimil homestead pattas.
• In rural areas, under the SVAMITVA scheme, 3,596 beneficiaries have received valid property cards.
• As per the Forest Rights Act, 34,965 tribal and traditional forest-dwelling families have been granted forest land pattas.
• Additionally, 25,643 government and government-aided educational institutions have been allotted pattas.
• The government has also declared 946 new revenue villages — an increase compared to the 1,075 villages declared between 1992 and 2023.

 

Steps are being taken to declare more villages soon based on eligibility. Furthermore, high-quality online video conferencing facilities have been introduced in all tehsils, and the project is already functional in 284 tehsils across the state.

 

The Revenue Department integrated 11 revenue services into the “Ama Sathi” Unified WhatsApp Bot on February 5, 2026. Since then, 10,266 citizens have already accessed services through this platform.

 

The government has also launched “Column-2 Correction” to update land records by removing deceased persons’ names and replacing them with living heirs. So far, 51 lakh accounts have been surveyed, with nearly 47 lakh corrected. Furthermore, 108 new sub-registration offices have been opened at the tehsil level to expand registration services.

 

Disaster Management Initiatives

 

Odisha continues to strengthen its disaster management framework. A modern Disaster Management building has been sanctioned, alongside construction of multipurpose cyclone shelters.

 

Within the stipulated time frame, 27 multipurpose cyclone shelters (MCS) have been constructed, while 911 existing shelters across 25 districts have been repaired. Plans are underway for additional shelters. The state has also identified 26 tsunami-ready villages, with work ongoing in 75 more.

 

To enhance preparedness:

• 434 automatic weather stations and 6,624 rain gauges are being installed
• Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) has been expanded with 10 new teams, supplementing the existing 20
• Training programmes (first phase) to prevent drowning deaths witnessed 4,500 individuals, out of 6,000 young men and women, including school and college students across 20 districts, complete the training
• To prevent lightning-related deaths, a programme (initially being implemented in 12 districts) has been undertaken with the support of the National Disaster Management Authority under the Mitigation Project for Lightning Safety.
• Additionally, heatwave action plans have already been prepared for 10 cities, and work is ongoing in 31 more cities.
• For effective disaster response, the early warning system and the Unified Command and Control System are being strengthened and made more active.

 

Future Roadmap

 

Looking ahead, the government plans to introduce benchmark valuation for immovable property, strengthen cashless and online transactions in tehsil offices, integrate land records with Aadhaar, and issue detailed guidelines to prevent illegal encroachment of government land.