Sambalpur: The zonal office of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) will finally have its own building more than four decades after it started functioning here in 1975.

The BSE, which functions from a rented building near Sen Park, will shift to its new premises near Jail Chowk by December 31.

BSE deputy secretary Balram Hota said: "The building has come up over 8,000sqft for Rs 1.67 crore. The public works department executed the construction."

"We had planned to shift on December 20, but we could not as the electricity connection was yet to be supplied. We have set a target to shift to our own building by December 31," he added.

The BSE's zonal office is responsible for conduct of examinations, publication of results, issue of certificates and correction of certificates. It caters to nine districts in western Odisha - Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Deogarh, Sundargarh, Balangir, Sonepur, Kalahandi and Nuapada.

There are 2,095 schools with around 1.5 lakh students under its jurisdiction.

"The long-standing problem of the zonal office here will be resolved once the office starts functioning from its own building. We are waiting for the works department to take steps for the electricity connection to the new building," said Hota.