Bhubaneswar: The state govt on Wednesday appointed chairpersons of the 30 district planning committees, completing a long-pending task as the posts were vacant after the BJP govt took over in June 2024.Among others, the govt has appointed four ministers in the posts while others are MLAs. While revenue and disaster management minster Suresh Pujari has been appointed chairperson of Deogarh planning committee, works, excise and law minister Shri Prithiviraj Harichandan will hold the same post for Gajapati.School and mass education minister Nityanand Gond will head the district-level panel in Rayagada while food supplies and consumer welfare minister Krushna Chandra Patra will hold the position in Sambalpur.MLA Jay Dholakia, who became MLA in a recent byelection, has been appointed planning panel chief of Nuapada district. Simarani Nayak (Dhenkanal) is the only woman among the 30 district panel chiefs.The district committees, which are formed under the Orissa District Planning Committees Act, 1998, are meant to consolidate plans prepared by the panchayats and the municipalities in the district and to prepare a draft development plan for the district as a whole.
