Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has spent more than ₹3.39 crore on repairing and renovating the official quarters of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, his two deputies, and 13 ministers since the BJP assumed power on June 12, 2024. The figures were placed before the Assembly on Monday in response to a question by BJD legislator Goutam Buddha Das.
In his written reply, Chief Minister Majhi informed that a total of ₹3,39,52,259 had been utilised for refurbishing ministerial quarters over the past year. Of this amount, ₹73.58 lakh was spent on repairs to two residences allocated to him. The larger share, ₹50.10 lakh, went towards renovating Quarter No. B-1 in Bhubaneswar’s Unit-II area, where Majhi had lived during his tenure as Keonjhar MLA. After he took oath as Chief Minister, an additional ₹23.47 lakh was spent on refurbishing the Unit-V quarters allotted to him.
The government also incurred significant expenses on the homes of the two Deputy Chief Ministers. KV Singh Deo’s official residence underwent repairs amounting to ₹28.21 lakh, while Deputy CM Pravati Parida’s quarters required ₹7.72 lakh worth of work.
Among the ministers, renovation spending varied widely. The quarters of Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia emerged among the higher expenditures, with repairs costing ₹25.74 lakh. A comparable amount, ₹25.72 lakh, was spent on Suryabanshi Suraj’s residence. Prithviraj Harichandan’s quarters saw repairs of ₹20.93 lakh, and those allotted to Sampad Chandra Swain required work amounting to ₹19.60 lakh. Several other ministers’ residences, including those of Gokulananda Mallik, Rabi Narayan Naik, Mukesh Mahaling, Suresh Pujari, Krushna Chandra Mahapatra, and Pradeep Balasamanta, involved expenditures ranging between ₹14 lakh and ₹19 lakh. The government disclosed that ₹10.59 lakh had been spent on refurbishing the quarters of Minister Bibhutibhusan Jena.
The lowest expenditure in the list pertained to Minister Nityananda Gond, whose government quarters were repaired at a cost of ₹5.11 lakh. The data underscored a wide variation in renovation costs across the ministerial residences, even as the consolidated amount crossed ₹3.39 crore within a year of the new government taking charge.
