The State Revenue and Disaster Management Department has launched a major initiative to rename 7 districts and 24 locations in English to match their authentic Odia pronunciations. The move aims to eliminate colonial-era spellings and phonetic inconsistencies, such as replacing the letter ‘R’ with ‘D’ in regional names.
Under the new notification, prominent changes include Balasore becoming Baleshwar, Angul shifting to Anugul, and Khordha being corrected from its previous English iteration. Other major district revisions include Kendujhar (Keonjhar), Debagarh (Deogarh), and Nayagada (Nayagarh).
Specific block and town names are also being overhauled. Notable changes include:
Jatni to Jatani
Barbil to Badbil
Redhakhol (Rairakhol)
Athagada (Athagarh)
The government has invited public feedback, allowing citizens 15 days to submit any objections or suggestions before the new spellings are finalized in official records. This linguistic transition marks a significant step in reclaiming Odisha's cultural and phonetic identity.