Bhubaneswar: Under the directive of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, the Department of Odia Language, Literature, and Culture of the Odisha government has decided to construct and install statues of 75 eminent personalities across the state, honouring leaders, writers, social reformers, freedom fighters, and other notable figures. The government has allocated approximately ₹14 crore for the project, with a target to complete it by the end of next year.
The statues will be installed in the following districts:
- Puri: Bhakta Manehi Sahu, Atal Bihari Vajpayee
- Khordha: Biswanath Das, poet Sacchidananda Rautray, Kuntala Kumari Sabat, Veer Surendra Sai, Padmashree Upendra Maharathi, Veer Sido Murmu, Kahnu Murmu, Rabi Ray, Binayak Acharya, Surendra Mohanty, Radhanath Rath, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Hemananda Biswal, Pindiki Bahubalendra, Dharanidhar Nayak, Laxmikanta Mahapatra
- Balasore: Kabibar Radhanath Ray, Mukund Prasad Das, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Khudiram Bose
- Jagatsinghpur: Jatiya Kabi Bir Kishore Das, Sarala Das, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mahesh Chandra Subahu Singh
- Nayagarh: Utkal Ghanta Jadumani Mahapatra, Pathani Samanta
- Cuttack: Bhairav Mohanty, Sarala Devi, Rani Sukadevi, Kabichandra Kali Charan Pattnaik, Nilamani Bidyaratna, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, Gangadhar Meher
- Bargarh: Kunj Bihari Das, Gangadhar Meher, Manohar Singh
- Angul:R. Ambedkar, Nabakrushna Choudhury
- Dhenkanal: Sarangadhar Das, Baji Rout
- Bhadrak: Biplabi Chakradhar Behera, Saheed Niranjan Behera, Swami Vivekananda, Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Dhusuri), Banchanidhi Mohanty, Muralidhar Panda, Laxmikanta Mahapatra, Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Chandbali)
- Balangir: Harekrushna Mahtab, Gangadhar Meher
- Ganjam: Dibakar Pattnaik, Upendra Bhanja, Baladev Rath, Jayamangal Rath, Santha Arakshit Das, Padmashree Bhagaban Sahu, Harihar Mardaraj, Chakara Bisoi, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Shashi Bhusan Rath
- Sambalpur: Laxmanananda Saraswati, Utkalmani Gopabandhu Das, Bira Chhabil Sai, Chandrasekhar Azad
- Kendrapara: Madhusudan Das
- Mayurbhanj: Pandit Raghunath Murmu, Deendayal Upadhyaya, Atal Bihari Vajpayee
- Koraput: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee
- Kalahandi: Rendo Majhi
- Keonjhar: Ramadevi
- Sonepur: Bhima Bhoi
- Rayagada: Saheed Laxman Nayak
The initiative seeks to celebrate Odisha’s rich heritage and the legacies of these personalities, inspiring future generations by commemorating their contributions to culture, literature, social reform, and the nation’s freedom struggle.