Bhubaneswar, Oct 24 (Inditop.com) The central government’s nod to a proposal by Orissa government to re-name the state as Odisha has received appreciation from people in the state.
“This was a long-standing demand. There should also be changes in the names of all other places in Orissa which were misspelt,” state Agriculture Minister and the ruling Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) general secretary Damodar Rout told Inditop Saturday.
“We welcome the move. We have been demanding this since quite some time,” Basanta Panigrahi, president of Utkal Sammilani, an organisation which works to protect the language, culture and tradition of the state, said.
“It is a welcome move. At least we will be able to use the right name of our state soon,” college student Sudhakar Satpathy said.
“Odisha is the ancient name of the state. It is a good move but only renaming of the state does not serve the purpose. The state government should promote Odiya culture and its language in true sense,” former chief minister and Congress leader J.B. Patnaik told reporters.
The BJD government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had approached the centre to amend the constitution after resolving in August last year to change the name of Orissa to Odisha and the name of its official language from Oriya to Odia.
The central cabinet approved the proposal Thursday, and the bill to amend the Constitution for the change is expected to be introduced in the next session of Parliament.
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