Bhubaneswar: In a major move, the Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation (OBCC) Ltd has initiated the process to ground the ambitious new central secretariat and the assembly buildings that will come up over a whopping 71 acres of land available adjacent to the current Lok Seva Bhawan.The OBCC on Tuesday issued an expression of interest inviting reputed consulting firm that will provide the master plan and help in preparation of the detailed project report for this project. The OBCC, which is likely to finalise the firm by this month-end, has come up with detailed specifications for this mega project.As per plan, the central secretariat complex will house all the 40 departments of the govt that are currently operating from different locations such as Lok Seva Bhawan, Kharvela Bhawan and other individual spaces. The govt plans to bring all these 40 departments under one roof to enhance governance efficiency.Similarly, for the new assembly building, the govt planned to first retrofit and remodel the existing complex to accommodate 200 members, which is likely to happen because of the delimitation due to the census of 2026. The retrofitting will be done in such a manner that it will have the option of redevelopment to accommodate up to 300 members in future.CM Mohan Charan Majhi laid the foundation stone for the project in Jan and said that departments scattered across multiple floors and buildings created operational inefficiencies, making a well-planned administrative building necessary now. The govt has earmarked Rs 3,623 crore for the mega project and set a deadline of two years.“The project aims to create a next-generation administrative campus and a new assembly building that represents Odisha’s ethos while supporting contemporary working methods. The new secretariat and assembly building shall promote institutional connectivity and operational efficiency,” the expression of interest document reads.The new secretariat will house ministerial and departmental offices, cabinet conference facilities, citizen-centric service areas, records, archives and data management facilities, while the assembly will house legislative assembly hall, speaker’s and deputy speaker’s offices, members’ lounges and chambers, public galleries and visitor facilities.The integrated secretariat and assembly complex will have clear zoning of public, semi-restricted, restricted and high-security areas, due segregation of executive and legislative function with strategic connectivity, secure movement system for the ministers, MLAs, officials and staff.Smart technology will be the core of the project. There will be advanced ICT backbone and secure data networks, dedicated data centre and digital command facilities, e-assembly infrastructure, intelligent building management system (BMS), integrated surveillance and cybersecurity, and access control system.
