Bhubaneswar, 06 September (H.S.): The Odisha Government has directed all district Collectors to ensure the uniform use of revised English spellings of place names in accordance with their Odia pronunciation across all government offices and institutions.

Additional Chief Secretary of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee, has asked Collectors to undertake a comprehensive review of nameplates and signboards at government offices and establishments and ensure that the spellings approved by the State Government are used consistently.

The directive follows a Gazette notification issued on June 22, 2026, under which government offices and institutions were required to adopt the revised spellings on their signboards within one month. Private and non-government institutions were given six months to implement the changes. The revised nomenclature has already been adopted in several districts.

Under the new nomenclature, Angul will be written as “Anugola”, Balasore as “Baleshwar”, Kendrapara as “Kendrapada” and Cuttack as “KATAKA”. The government has also directed that old spellings such as “Jeypore” and “Soro” be replaced with “Jayapur” and “Sora”, respectively.

The department noted that some government offices continue to display the old English spellings on their signboards, despite the earlier directive. It stressed that uniformity in official place names is essential for the effective implementation of the State Cabinet decision and to avoid inconsistencies in official records and public signage.

Collectors have been instructed to personally review the implementation status across government offices, institutions and other government establishments in their respective districts and ensure that all signboards and nameplates carry the revised spellings.

They have also been asked to encourage private and non-government institutions to adopt the revised nomenclature within the stipulated timeframe.

The Revenue and Disaster Management Department has accorded priority to the implementation of the decision and directed all Collectors to take necessary action and submit compliance reports within one week, detailing the status of implementation in their respective districts.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda