After two days of stormy protests that repeatedly brought the monsoon session to a halt, the Odisha Legislative Assembly briefly returned to business on Thursday.
Under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker Bhabani Shankar Bhoi, the House sat for just four minutes from 4 pm — long enough for Industries Minister Sampad Chandra Swain to introduce the Odisha Jan Vishwas Bill, 2026.
The House was then adjourned until 10:30 am Friday.
The short sitting followed persistent disruptions by BJD and Congress members over the central MMDR Amendment Act and alleged errors in school textbooks. Question Hour and listed business could not be taken up in the morning, forcing adjournment till the afternoon. Once order was restored, the government moved quickly on a key reform measure.
The Odisha Jan Vishwas Bill, 2026, is the second phase of the state’s regulatory overhaul after the Odisha Jan Vishwas Act, 2025. It proposes 62 amendments across 16 state Acts administered by 11 departments. Schedule I contains 35 amendments aimed at decriminalising minor, technical and procedural offences by replacing imprisonment or disproportionate fines with monetary penalties and simpler appellate processes. Schedule II contains 27 amendments that rationalise nine regulatory approvals — extending licence validity, reducing or ending renewals, introducing intimation-based registration and NOCs, and removing duplicate permissions.
Officials say the changes will cut compliance burden on businesses and citizens, eliminate overlapping clearances (including where a municipal trade licence already exists), and extend validity of agricultural market and other licences. The government has framed the legislation as a shift toward trust-based governance and improved ease of doing business.
The Assembly will resume on Friday for the scheduled private members’ business day.
