A high-level secretary-level meeting was held under the chairmanship of Odisha Chief Secretary Anu Garg at Kharavela Bhawan, where senior government officials reviewed the progress of various development initiatives, governance reforms and policy measures in the state.

The meeting was attended by Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary Deoranajan Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary Hemant Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Additional Chief Secretary Chitra Arumugam, Additional Chief Secretary Usha Padhee, along with secretaries from different departments and the Principal Secretary of the Finance Department.

At the beginning of the meeting, Chief Secretary Anu Garg highlighted several major achievements of the state government, including the launch of the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), free education from KG to PG, the Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana, strengthening of nutritional support systems, increased reservation in technical and professional education, and progress in the sports, industrial and startup sectors.

The meeting focused on making governance more effective, transparent and citizen-centric through technology-based solutions and evidence-driven policymaking. Officials discussed improving departmental performance, reviewing major development programmes and ensuring better utilisation of resources through scientific research, data analysis and field-level assessments.

The government also discussed expanding collaboration with J-PAL in areas such as education, agriculture, labour, food supply, women empowerment and governance. Future cooperation in agriculture, climate change, women’s economic empowerment, migrant workers, labour markets and artificial intelligence was also reviewed.

The Finance Department presented a review of the state’s revenue and expenditure position as of June 30, 2026. Officials noted a significant increase in programme expenditure during the first quarter of the current financial year compared to last year. Departments were directed to ensure effective budget utilisation, speed up capital expenditure and complete projects within the scheduled timeline.

The Electronics and Information Technology Department presented initiatives involving AI-based Odia language voice bot technology. The system is expected to help collect citizen feedback, assess service quality and improve government schemes through direct communication with beneficiaries in Odia.

The department also highlighted the potential use of Odia Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to digitise old handwritten records and strengthen administrative processes.