Traces of Biju Patnaik and BJD have been removed, and key Odisha schemes have been rebranded by the Majhi's government in their first budget.

The newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party and Mohan Charan Majhi-led government in Odisha has recently renamed several schemes and programs that were originally named after former chief minister late Biju Patnaik. This move has sparked criticism from opposition parties.

Naveen Patnaik, the former chief minister and current leader of the Opposition in the Odisha assembly, expressed his concerns about the renaming of almost 40 schemes that were launched by the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government. He stated that the BJP government had rebranded more than 40 schemes from his government as their own. This announcement came after Chief Minister Majhi presented the maiden budget of the BJP-led government at the Vidhan Sabha on Thursday.

One of the prominent schemes that has been rebranded is the Gopabandhu Jana Arogya Yojana, which is a modified version of the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY). This initiative promises cashless medical treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh for nearly 96 lakh families, and up to Rs 10 lakh for women. It has been named after Gopabandhu, a renowned Odia freedom fighter, social reformer, and writer known for advocating social justice, education, and women's empowerment. There are several localities, public squares, and colleges in the state named after Gopabandhu.

The Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme, which is an income-support scheme for farmers similar to the Centre’s PM-Kisan scheme, will now continue as the 'CM-KISAN' scheme.

The 'Ama Odisha, Naveen Odisha' flagship program, launched by Naveen Patnaik in 2011 to transform the state's infrastructure, industries, agriculture, and skill development by leveraging state resources, is now known as 'Viksit Gaon, Viksit Odisha'.

Furthermore, the 'Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana' has been renamed as 'Antyodaya Gruha Yojana' to include low-income households living in kutcha houses not covered under the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)-Gramin. The 'Biju Setu Yojana', which oversaw the construction of bridges in rural areas, has been rebranded as 'Setu Bandhan Yojana'.

The 'Make in Odisha Conclave', a biennial investment summit organized by the state government, will now be called 'Utkarsha Utkal' (Magnificent Utkal), with Utkal being the former name of Odisha.

Last week, the government issued a notification to change the name of the Biju Patnaik Sports Award to 'Odisha Rajya Krida Samman', but this decision was reversed after criticism from the Opposition. 

Several other schemes have also been renamed. The 'Mo School' initiative, aimed at encouraging alumni participation in school development, is now known as 'Panchasakha Sikhya Setu Abhiyan'. 'Mo College' has been renamed as 'Ama College, Ama Gaurav'.

Furthermore, the 'Odisha Millets Mission' has been changed to 'Shree Anna Abhiyan', and the scheme for distributing laptops to meritorious students, 'Biju Yuva Sashaktikaran Yojana', is now known as 'Godabarisha Vidyarthi Protsahana Yojana'. The 'Ashirbad' scheme, providing financial assistance to support children who have lost their parents, has been renamed to the 'Jashoda' scheme.

Other initiatives affected by the renaming include the 'Mission Shakti' scheme, which will now focus on creating 25 lakh 'Lakhpati Didis' by 2027 by establishing industrial clusters for self-help groups (SHGs). The 'Biju-KBK (Koraput-Bolangir-Kalahandi) Yojana' is now called the 'KBK Bikash Yojana', and the 'Biju Kandhamal O Gajapati Yojana (BKGY)' has been renamed to 'Kandhamal O Gajapati Bikash Yojana'.