Nabarangpur, July 9 [UDN}: As part of the Bikashara Dhara, Odisha Sara outreach programme, Odisha’s Minister for Mines, Industries and Transport, Bibhuti Bhusan Jena, interacted with intellectuals and professionals from the Nabarangpur Assembly constituency at a conference held in a local hotel.
During the meeting, the Minister highlighted the major developmental initiatives undertaken in Nabarangpur district over the past two years. He was joined by District Planning Committee Chairman and MLA Gouri Shankar Majhi and MP Balabhadra Majhi, who also addressed the gathering.
The Minister stated that after the formation of the new government, several landmark projects have either been completed or initiated in the district. These include the establishment of a medical college, land acquisition for the Bharatmala highway project and the railway line, construction of bypass roads, development of four degree colleges, upgradation of PM SHRI and Godabarish schools, and progress on mega irrigation, mega drinking water supply, and the Turi-Guntat irrigation project.
The intellectuals and professionals present at the meeting—including Vijay Choudhury, R. Ramamurti Pattnaik, Sachi Choudhury, Subash Jain, Birendra Nayak, Prahlad Tripathy, Narayan Patra, Narasingha Tripathy, M. Anand Rao, and Tanmay Mishra—put forward several development proposals. They urged the government to:
Start the B.Ed. College immediately.
Make the medical college operational without delay.
Stop paddy procurement deductions (katni-chhatni).
Establish modern cold storage facilities and multi-purpose PACS for maize farmers.
Grant government status to Nabarangpur College.
Appoint regular faculty members in Indravati College and other educational institutions.
Repair rural roads and strengthen irrigation infrastructure.
Purchase paddy according to irrigated and non-irrigated land classifications.
Develop model agriculture villages in rain-fed areas.
Allocate land for a senior citizens’ community hall.
Promote indigenous cow rearing and organic farming.
Prevent labour migration (dadan).
Create more district-level employment opportunities.
Empower the District Collector with a development fund of ₹100 crore.
Accelerate the development of Nabarangpur and Umerkote.
Sachi Choudhury pointed out that many farmers are unable to bring FAQ-grade paddy to procurement centres because excess moisture remains in the harvested crop after threshing. He suggested setting up small cold storage facilities across the district.
Among those present were BJP District President Kunj Bihari Das, Dr. K. Dhananjaya Pattnaik, retired educationist Jugunu Mahu, Government Advocate Jhadeswar Khadanga, Ramesh Sahu, Chamber of Commerce President Kahnu Das, social worker Jagannath Mahapatra, and Municipal Chairperson Kunu Nayak. The programme was conducted by GVV Ranjita, while Kishori Pattnaik, Shatabdi Pal, Ananta Panda, and A. Suresh Shastri extended their support in organizing the event.
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