Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 07: Odisha Government is strengthening urban governance through the Atal Network for Knowledge, Urbanisation and Reform (ANKUR)—a collaborative platform that connects Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) with knowledge institutions, experts, development organisations and innovation partners to address urban challenges and improve services for citizens.
Inspired by the vision of Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee and launched on May 28, 2025, ANKUR serves as a bridge between urban challenges and solutions. It enables ULBs to identify problems, access specialised knowledge and technology, test innovative approaches, build institutional capacity and scale successful solutions across cities. Rather than functioning as a standalone scheme, ANKUR strengthens and supports the Government’s existing urban programmes by bringing knowledge and innovation into implementation.
“ANKUR is about connecting the needs of our cities with the right knowledge, expertise and solutions. By strengthening the capacity of Urban Local Bodies and enabling innovation, our objective is to make urban services simpler, faster and more responsive to citizens,” said Smt. Usha Padhee, Additional Chief Secretary, Housing & Urban Development Department.
At its core, ANKUR is a model of collaborative governance. The platform brings together the Government, knowledge institutions, technical experts, development organisations and innovation partners on a shared table, so that specific expertise required for urban planning and government functioning—ranging from municipal finance and land management to environmental engineering and digital systems—is made readily available to ULBs. Instead of each city having to source such knowledge on its own, ANKUR pools it in one place, allowing ULBs to draw on the right expertise at the right time and translate it into practical action on the ground.
This approach is already supporting interventions across digital governance, environmental management, regulatory reforms, capacity building, sanitation, livelihoods and citizen outreach. Digital initiatives such as SUJOG are strengthening municipal service delivery across 115 cities, while data-driven interventions are helping identify and resolve local urban issues. Under the Dispersed Sources Programme, for instance, 2,604 localised pollution-related issues were identified in Bhubaneswar, of which 1,225 have been resolved, with a target of 80 per cent resolution by October 2026.
ANKUR also supports the Government’s effort to make ULBs stronger institutions capable of planning and delivering better. More than 1,150 government officials have been trained through capacity-building initiatives. Knowledge-led reforms are also contributing to simplification of building construction, land subdivision and land-use regulations, facilitating planned development and more efficient utilisation of urban land.
The platform is helping bring a people-first approach to urban innovation. Mechanisation, safety equipment and training are strengthening the safety and dignity of sanitation workers; youth are being connected with skills and employment opportunities through initiatives such as the Lighthouse Programme; and SAHAJOG and SAHAJOG Plus are helping connect urban families with government schemes and essential services.
ANKUR is also creating space to test, demonstrate and scale new solutions for emerging urban challenges, including reuse of low-value plastic waste, improved Construction & Demolition Waste management and other resource-efficient practices. Successful approaches can subsequently be adapted and replicated across ULBs.
Through ANKUR, the Government is therefore creating an urban innovation ecosystem—where a challenge identified by a city can be connected with expertise, converted into a workable solution, tested on the ground and scaled for wider public benefit.
Aligned with Viksit Odisha @2036, ANKUR is strengthening the Government’s ability to transform knowledge into solutions and solutions into better services for people—helping build cleaner, safer, resilient and more citizen-centric cities across Odisha.
