Western Odisha Development Council.
The Western Odisha Development Council(WODC) Act,2000 as amended vide Orissa Act 8 and 14 of 2001 & 2003 respectively provides for the establishment of the Council with the prime objective of accelerated development and advancement of the people residing within 10 districts and one sub-division of Angul district of Western Odisha. The Act empowers the Council for the socio-economic, educational, cultural advancement and development of the people residing within the WODC area. The Western Odisha Development Council comprises of 10 districts i.e. Bargarh, Bolangir, Boudh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Sambalpur, Subarnapur, Sundargarh and Athmallik sub-division of Angul district. In the council area there are 36 nos of assembly constituency, 6 nos of parliamentary constituency. The 10 districts and Athmallik sub-division of Angul district comprises of 89 numbers of blocks.

The Council comprises 26 members including the Chairman. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) WODC is the Member Secretary of the Council. Two Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and eleven Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) elect partly or wholly from Council area are nominated to the Council by Government on rotational basis for a term of two years. Ten experts having excellence and expertise in the field of Planning, Finance & Accounts, Public Administration, Social Service, Education, Agriculture, Industries, Irrigation, Public Health, Forestry, Mining, Public Work, Employment or management of people’s problem are nominated by Govt. to the Council. Revenue Divisional Commissioner of major area coming under the Council i.e RDC (ND), Sambalpur is also a member of the Council. Recently RDC(SD) has also been nominated to the Council as a Special invitee.

The Council prepares its own Annual Budget for the Council area basing on the Grant-in-Aid received from the State Government. The Council received an enhanced Grant-in-Aid of Rs.200 crore annually since the financial year 2021-22. Out of the total Grant-in-Aid, Rs.150 crore and Rs.30 crore is approved in the annual budget as Special Grant and Main Grant respectively. Besides, Rs.20 crore is allocated in the supplementary budget. Since inception a tune of Rs.2108.05 crore as GIA has been received by WODC from the State Government. As on 30th November 2022 WODC has administratively approved 39959 nos of projects amounting to Rs. 1898.93 crore in the 11 districts of the council area. Out of which 35368 nos of project have been completed and 4321 nos of projects are in progress. UCs to the tune of Rs.1543.67 crore has already been submitted to AG, Odisha.

The Western Odisha Development Council aims at a faster process of growth in the Council area. The Council lay emphasis on all-round development including minimizing the economic inequalities, creating adequate infrastructural facilities, providing adequate avenues for earning livelihood by way of generating man-days and above all to trickle down the message of development to the lowest rung of the community. Different projects under Roads & Communication, Agricultural Development, Minor Irrigation, Construction of Check Dams, Installation of LIPs, Water Supply Schemes, Sinking of Tube Wells, grant for Infrastructure development of Schools & Colleges, Health Services, Electrification of villages etc. are being taken up by the Council.

During the current year Western Odisha Development Council has striven to lay more emphasis on projects with greater impact in the districts under its jurisdiction.Education being the lifeline of human capital development, it has also been given adequate importance in the Council budget to bridge the gap in existing State & Centrally sponsored schemes. Similarly, Health ,Energy, Drinking water, Road Connectivity, Tourism, Handloom& textile projects have also been given due importance keeping in view the requirements of people.

To enrich the quality of life of people of western Odisha, emphasis is given not only to address the minimum needs but also to other amenities such as Park, Community Centers, Kalyan Mandaps, Cultural Pendals/ Mandaps, Bathing Steps, Cement Concrete Roads, Graveyards, Smashan Ghats etc.

WODC has not remained insulated from the state wide efforts to tackle the pandemic of COVID-19. Accordingly Rs.25 crores have been funded to the District Collectors to strengthen health sector institutions and assistance like procurement of masks, gloves, medical equipment, consumables, hospital beds, oxygen pipelines etc.

To sum up WODC has now become a strategic arm of the State Government to undertake coordinated action to accelerate State Govt.’s reach and initiatives in 11 districts under WODC so that the socio-economic progress in these areas are enhanced and People’s economic well being is ensured.