Bhubaneswar, May 28 (IANS) The state Housing & Urban Development Department (H&UD) on Wednesday launched ANKUR – Atal Network for Knowledge, Urbanisation & Reform, a strategic initiative designed to catalyse inclusive, sustainable, and innovative urban growth across the state.

The department, in an official statement, termed the launch of the initiative as a landmark step towards redefining the future of urban development in Odisha.

The H&UD Department has signed MoUs with six leading institutions and organisations working in the urban development ecosystem.

Krushna Chandra Mahapatra, the minister for Housing & Urban Development, who attended the event as Chief Guest, said, “ANKUR” represents a collective promise, to build cities that are efficient, smart, and above all, citizen-centric.

This is a movement towards a ‘Viksit Odisha’, co-authored by communities, institutions, and government alike.”

Usha Padhee, the Principal Secretary, H&UD Department, also noted that the genesis of ANKUR was not a single moment, but rather a series of reflections, conversations, and collaborations.

“It was born from a growing realisation within our department that the pace and complexity of urbanisation in Odisha required new thinking, new partnerships, and new platforms. Over the past year, through internal consultations and engagements with experts, practitioners, and institutions across the country and beyond, a vision began to take shape. ANKUR emerged as an answer to those questions, a platform to co-create solutions, to institutionalise innovation, and to sustain partnerships that can carry us through the next decade of urban growth,” Padhee added.

The department also highlighted that as Odisha’s urban population is projected to triple by 2036, ANKUR has been envisioned as a transformative platform to co-create resilient, livable, and future-ready cities.

Anchored in the values of collaborative governance, ANKUR aligns with the national aspiration of ‘Viksit Bharat @2047’, while responding to Odisha’s unique socio-economic and urban context.

The department claimed that it will strengthen four strategic pillars of urban development – capacity building, knowledge and research, implementation support and innovation.

As per the official statement, ANKUR will serve as the institutional backbone to drive reform, innovation, and evidence-based urban decision-making in the state.

The initiative is poised to become the nerve centre of Odisha’s urban reform agenda. With a commitment to decentralisation, inclusivity, and knowledge-led action, the initiative will foster a new era of urban partnerships, ensuring that no city, and no citizen, is left behind.

–IANS

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