Orissa State Housing Board

The Orissa State Housing Board had been set up by the government of Orissa in 1968, under the State Legislative Act. The main objective of the housing board in the state of Orissa is to provide housing and accommodation to the needy inhabitants of the state.

The Orissa State Housing Board has built around 28,500 houses all over the state at the cost of ` 227.35 crore.

The various objectives of the Orissa State Housing Board are:

• To select the various sites where the housing projects are to come up and to decide the various facilities that are to be provided
• To construct houses under various schemes for the different categories of people that are the low income group, middle income group, and the high income group.
• To construct hospitals, dispensaries, hotels, industrial, and commercial complexes
• To make various schemes that will provide financial help to the high and middle income group in purchasing houses

The various departments of the Orissa State Housing Board are:

• Chairman
• Secretary
• Finance
• Engineering
• Administration

The various places where Orissa State Housing Board have constructed houses are:

• Bhubaneshwar
• Cuttack
• Angul
• Sambalpur
• Choudwar
• Nayagarh

In Bhubaneshwar, the housing board in Orissa has built the Pragati Enclave at the cost of ` 5.19 crore for the middle and high income groups. There are around 75 units in this enclave. It has also built Dumduma Apartments at the cost of ` 6.58 crore, for the low income group. There are around 291 units in this apartments. In Cuttack, the Orissa State Housing Board has built Bidanasi Apartments for the high income group at the cost of ` 2.07 crore.

The Orissa State Housing Board has been able to provide accommodation to the needy in the state and has done a great job so far. However, there still exists some scope for improvement and the state government is considering more schemes and plans to empower the housing board so that it can carry on the good work at sustainable basis.