Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has initiated the process for conducting elections to newly constituted urban local bodies by directing district collectors of 18 districts to complete ward delimitation and reservation of seats within a fixed timeline.
In a letter issued by the Housing and Urban Development Department, collectors have been asked to conclude the delimitation and reservation exercise by March. As per the schedule outlined by the department, proposals and objections related to the delimitation of municipal areas and reservation of seats will be invited from February 12 to February 21.
The notification on ward delimitation and seat reservation is scheduled to be issued on February 26. Following the publication of the notification, objections and appeals can be filed between February 26 and March 13. The appeals will be heard from March 16 to March 28, after which the final notification will be issued by the respective district collectors on March 31.
Elections will be held for a total of 37 urban local bodies, including 28 Notified Area Councils (NACs), seven municipalities, and two municipal corporations—Sambalpur and Puri—across the identified districts.
The move comes in compliance with the directive of the State Election Commission, which had asked the state government to complete the delimitation and reservation process within six months of the formal declaration of the establishment of new NACs and municipalities. Completion of this process is a mandatory step before the conduct of urban local body elections in the state.
