Bhubaneswar, July 22 (UDN): The Odisha government has directed all district administrations to immediately implement the revised English spellings of districts, sub-divisions, tahasils, blocks and urban local bodies across all official platforms and records.
The directive, issued by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, asks authorities to ensure uniform adoption of the updated spellings in government correspondence, official documents, websites, digital portals, databases, signboards, nameplates and other forms of public communication.
Districts Asked to Ensure Full Compliance
In a communication to all District Magistrates, Additional Chief Secretary Arabinda Kumar Padhee instructed officials to complete the transition without delay and submit an Action Taken Report (ATR) after implementing the revised nomenclature.
The move is aimed at ensuring consistency in the use of the corrected spellings across all government departments and institutions.
Based on June 22 Government Notification
The latest instruction follows the state government’s notification issued on June 22, which standardised the English spellings of administrative units to better reflect the pronunciation of their original Odia names.
The government has clarified that the exercise is limited to correcting English transliterations and does not involve any change in the official names of districts or other administrative units. The revised spellings came into effect from the date of their publication in the Odisha Gazette.
Preserving Linguistic Identity
According to the government, the initiative seeks to preserve Odisha’s linguistic and cultural identity by replacing English spellings that do not accurately represent Odia pronunciation.
Officials said the corrections are intended to bring greater uniformity in official records while ensuring that the English spellings remain faithful to the state’s native language.
Changes to Reflect Across Physical and Digital Platforms
District administrations have been instructed to ensure that every government office, local body and public institution under their jurisdiction updates the revised spellings across both physical and digital platforms.
The implementation will cover official records, public signage, online services and databases to eliminate inconsistencies and establish a uniform naming convention across the state’s administrative system.