Bhubaneswar: A high-level secretary meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja was held at Lok Seva Bhawan on Tuesday to review the state’s financial performance up to October 2025 for the 2025–26 fiscal year and deliberate on key governance and development priorities.
At the outset, the Chief Secretary and the attending secretaries congratulated the Indian women’s cricket team for winning the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. Praising the achievement, Ahuja said women are excelling across all spheres of life and urged departments to ensure more opportunities and encouragement for women and girls.
The Finance Department presented a detailed analysis of the state’s fiscal performance, revealing that 38% of the budgeted expenditure had been utilized up to October—marking a 13% increase over the same period last year.
The Chief Secretary reviewed the performance of ten major departments, including Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water, Health and Family Welfare, Women and Child Development, Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Water Resources, Works, Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Rural Development, and Housing and Urban Development. It was noted that most departments have shown improved expenditure levels this year.
Revenue performance was also reviewed, with total revenue collection registering a 7.2% rise over October 2024. The combined success rate of own tax and non-tax revenue, the state’s share of central taxes, and central grants stood at 47.6%. Departments were instructed to maintain close coordination with the Centre to ensure timely release of funds under centrally sponsored schemes.
The meeting also discussed preparations for the upcoming 5th Chief Secretaries’ Conference, with particular focus on Ease of Doing Business and the 23 operational sectors in Odisha. Departments were asked to collaborate for the 150th anniversary celebrations of the national song “Vande Mataram,” emphasizing its message of unity and patriotism.
Highlighting Odisha’s commitment to “self-reliance,” Ahuja outlined four pillars to strengthen the state’s development framework—adopting a new mindset for focused growth, reforming business regulations, ensuring coordinated implementation across departments, and developing large industrial clusters and their supporting ecosystems.
In alignment with the “Viksit Odisha 2036” vision, presentations were made on flagship departmental projects to finalize Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Development Commissioner Anu Garg emphasized the importance of training, institutional strengthening, and field-level monitoring to achieve the goals outlined in the Vision Document. She directed secretaries to undertake regular district visits, update inspection details on the portal, and ensure timely follow-up on implementation.
The meeting was attended by Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary Anu Garg, Additional Chief Secretaries Satyabrata Sahu, Deoranjan Kumar Singh, Surendra Kumar, and Hemant Sharma, along with Principal Secretaries, Commissioners, and Secretaries from all departments.
