By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, June 23, 2016 : Odisha Government has decided to create more than 500 new panchayats in the state. A formal notification on this context would be issued soon, Panchayati Raj Minister Arun Sahoo on Thursday said.

The Naveen Patnaik government on Thursday formally approved proposals from the districts to form 500-600 new panchayats in the state, the minister added.

Incidentally, the ruling Biju Janata Dakl in its election manifesto, 2014 had promised to create a panchayat for every 1,000 population.

Of late, the demand for smaller panchayats was growing louder for faster and better development of the rural areas.

The government would submit the records pertaining to the boundary, ward details and reservation status of the panchayats to the State Election Commission (SEC) within a month, said Panchayati Raj Secretary Deo Ranjan Singh.

The Odisha Cabinet on June 5 approved a proposal to amend ‘The Orissa Grama Panchayat Act’ that will facilitate the creation of 500 new panchayats in the state.

The opposition Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, however, dubbed the announcement to create 600 new panchayats a political stunt few months before the next year’s election for panchayats.