Hundreds of youths have taken oath on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar to make the city a special district. In the campaign for declaration of Bhubaneswar as a district, the voices of various institutions are being collected from different parts of Bhubaneswar, including people residing in the city outskirts like Balipatna, Balianta and Nakhara on behalf of the 'Milita Mahamancha', under the leadership of its convenor Dr Lingaraj Sahoo.

Now, the collection of signatures of various members of Durga Puja Committees and Lakshmi Puja Committees has started. With the help of senior persons and institutions, a signature collection campaign was conducted to present the signatures to the Government to make Bhubaneswar a district.

The members of the Mahamancha claimed that there are many reasons for making Bhubaneswar a district when almost all the capitals are districts. When the Khordha district was formed in 1992, its population was 11 lakh, but now it has reached 22 lakh. Even before the reorganisation of 13 districts, the Justice Das Commission in its report had recommended Bhubaneswar to be formed as a revenue district.

Late Satapriya Mohanty, the then Minister, had proposed to make Bhubaneswar a district and set up many offices here. Former Chief Minister late Nandini Satpathy had also formed a committee under the chairmanship of a retired judge of the Orissa High Court to grant district status to Bhubaneswar, they said, adding that the issues of Lingaraj Temple Trust Board or any problem in the district can be solved immediately in Bhubaneswar district.

In this oath taking ceremony, Anchalika Bikash Parishad  president Brundaban Sahu, vice president Akshay Swain, secretary Arun Kumar Purohit, Baishalini Patnaik, Bishnu Biswal, Laxmidhar Pradhan and Prashant Mishra, among hundreds of people actively participated. Similarly, the collection of signatures has been started from various Durga Puja Committees.