The Odisha Revenue and Disaster Management Department has directed all district Collectors to ensure the uniform adoption of revised English spellings of place names, aligned with their Odia pronunciation, across government offices and institutions in their respective districts. Additional Chief Secretary Dr Arabinda Kumar Padhee instructed Collectors to conduct a comprehensive review of nameplates and signboards at all government establishments and ensure that only the government-approved spellings are used consistently.
The directive follows the Odisha Government’s Gazette Notification issued on June 22, 2026, which required all government offices and institutions to update their signboards with the revised spellings within one month. Private and non-government institutions were given six months to implement the changes. Several districts have already adopted the revised nomenclature, with names such as Angul being changed to Anugola, Balasore to Baleshwar, Kendrapara to Kendrapada, and Cuttack to Kataka on official signboards.
However, the State Government has observed that some government offices continue to display the earlier English spellings, leading to inconsistencies in official nomenclature. Collectors have now been instructed to ensure that outdated spellings, including Jeypore and Soro, are replaced with the approved versions Jayapur and Sora, respectively. The department stressed that maintaining uniformity in official place names is essential for the effective implementation of the State Cabinet’s decision, adding that continued use of outdated spellings on government signboards undermines the objective of the reform.
Collectors have been asked to personally monitor the implementation across all government offices, institutions, and other public establishments in their districts and ensure that the revised spellings are reflected on all official signboards and nameplates. They have also been directed to facilitate and encourage private and non-government institutions to adopt the revised spellings within the prescribed timeframe and promote their wider usage. The department has accorded top priority to the implementation of the revised nomenclature and has instructed all Collectors to submit a compliance report within one week, detailing the status of implementation in their respective districts.