Of the 22 semi-urban places in Odisha which were accorded the Notified Area Council (NAC) status in second phase on Wednesday, Kujang town in Jagatsinghpur district was one. The people of Kujanga and its adjacent villages besides civic body, Kujang Sachetan Nagarik Mancha (KSNM) that had spearheaded a campaign for the tag, have expressed happiness and congratulated Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and 5T Chairman VK Pandian for awarding the NAC tag to Kujang.

The KSNM had vented their anger when Kujang had been excluded from the list of 35 new NACs announced by the Government in the first phase. The KSNM had observed a dawn- to- dusk Bandha on March 2 in Kujang to further push their demand. Acting on the public grievance, the Chief Minister's Office ordered a field visit following which a team of officials from the Urban Development Department visited Kujang on Monday and held meeting with the Kujang BDO, Tehsildar, Sarpanches, members from local traders’ association, lawyers and KSNM convener Raghunath Sahoo.

Two rounds of talks were held with the State Government officials. Later, the Kujang Tehsildar and BDO presented a proposal that the areas within 5 km radius of Kujanga town be included in the proposed NAC taking panchayats of Kujang, Mangarajpur, Balia and two villages of Gopiakuda GP.

The Revenue Department supplied a sketch map and population list including the business feasibility of Kujang localities. The visiting dignitaries studied the eligibility and requirements for giving NAC status and later submitted their reports to the State Government.