Bhubaneswar, 6 August (H.S.) In a major administrative move, the Odisha government is set to notify 1,635 new revenue villages as part of a large-scale restructuring of village boundaries across the state. The Revenue and Disaster Management Department has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to guide the comprehensive remapping process, ensuring clear demarcation and preventing overlap with existing village records.
According to the SOP, district collectors, Revenue Divisional Commissioners (RDCs), and the Director of Land Records and Survey have been directed to accelerate the process of updating land records and village maps. Each new revenue village will have independent land records, plot numbers, and village accounts to uphold data accuracy and avoid duplication with older records.
The initiative comes in response to long-standing public demands and recommendations from district collectors and settlement officers. In a letter, the Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue Department noted that between 1991 and 2024, only about 1,000 villages were declared as revenue villages. However, maps were prepared for merely 300 of them under the previous administration, leaving the remaining 700 unmapped.
The state government now plans to finalize mapping for the 700 previously declared villages while simultaneously initiating mapping for the 935 newly identified villages—bringing the total to 1,635.
To streamline the process, the Revenue Minister has announced the establishment of dedicated mapping cells in every tehsil. These units will ensure timely and efficient execution of the mapping and record-updating work.
The comprehensive boundary redefinition and mapping exercise is expected to enhance administrative efficiency, ensure accurate land governance, and strengthen service delivery in the restructured revenue villages.
---------------
Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda