Bhubaneswar, Feb 16: A crucial review meeting on the Ratna Bhandar of the Shree Jagannath Temple is scheduled to be held at 11 am today. The meeting will initially be chaired by Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan, followed by a detailed review by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.

The Chief Minister is expected to review the counting and verification process of the temple’s precious ornaments. A comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), prepared to streamline the long-pending issues related to the inventory, verification, and management of the Ratna Bhandar, will be taken up for discussion. The final contours of the SOP are likely to be clarified after the review.

According to Minister Harichandan, the Chief Minister will conduct a separate review of the SOP at 1 pm.

Meanwhile, the Ekamra Heritage Project is targeted for completion by the end of the 2026–27 financial year. The government has proposed setting up a new interpretation centre near the parking area under the project. Plans are also in place to install a grand statue of Lord Lingaraj and to develop Bindu Sagar into a heritage lake. With the addition of these new components, the project outlay is expected to increase. However, the minister assured that there would be no financial constraints for the additional works and informed that a new agency would execute the project after the previous one declined to continue.

Reacting to the announcement, senior BJD leader Ashok Panda said that funds for interpretation centres at Shreekhetra and the Lingaraj Temple had already been sanctioned during the tenure of former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He claimed that the interpretation centre was part of the earlier Ekamra project plan and that the development of Bindu Sagar was not a new proposal. Panda alleged that the Law Minister’s statement was factually incorrect and termed it unrealistic.