ONI Bureau: History will be created on September 28 when once dubbed as India’s most under-developed district, Kalahandi will host one of India’s largest development conclaves, known as ‘Kalahandi Dialogue’. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the conclave in Bhawanipatna tomorrow, which will continue till September 30. Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will be the Chief Guest.
Kalahandi Dialogue is seen as a unique platform for engaging global leaders, policy makers, development practitioners, entrepreneurs & social entrepreneurs, investors & impact investors, public intellectuals and the youth in the global development discourse. It aims to offer an insightful discourse on development interventions and solutions that have emerged from the independent and collaborative realms of public policy, entrepreneurship and social innovation.
Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Sonam Wangchuck, Chairman, Odisha Skill Development Authority Subroto Bagchi, Rajya Sabha MP Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Dr. Ashok Dalwai, IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers Welfare & former District Magistrate and Collector, Kalahandi, Mr. Vibhav Kant Upadhyay, Chairman, India Center Foundation will join as the Key Note Speakers. Mr. Bijay Sahoo, Group President – Strategic HR, Chairman’s Office, Reliance Industries Ltd will also be present at the inaugural ceremony.
The Kalahandi Dialogue conclave will host 500 delegates; including 200 university students, 100 organizations, dozens of social entrepreneurs & activists from diverse sectors and geographies. The Kalahandi Dialogue will bring together creative and visionary leaders, thinkers, innovators and communities who can play an integral role in development and make an impact to take things forward. Apart from developmental discussions, Kalahandi Dialogue will showcase the ethnic culture of tribal Odisha, including music, dance, painting, cuisine and healing practices.
In a bid to build policymakers for the future, the conclave will hold a signature course on public policy, ‘íPolicy for Young Leaders’ on Day 1. The Centre for Civil Society has curated the ‘íPolicy for Young Leaders’ course, with a variety of interactive learning methods designed to provide participants with opportunities to explore and share policy-based solutions to social problems.
Some of the eminent personalities who will attend the Kalahandi Conclave, include Dr. Annapurna Pandey, Dr. Chintamani Mahapatra, Mr. Srikant Chatterjee, Mr. P Sainath, Ms. Katherine B. Hadda, Dr. Amar Patnaik, Mr. Chaminda Rajapakse, Mr. Nila Madhab Panda, Ms Tulasi Munda, Mr. Prafulla Samal, Mr. Ramesh Chandra Majhi, Mr. Pushpendra Singhdeo, Mr. Bhupinder Singh, Captain Dibya Shankar Mishra, Mr. Ardhendu Das, Mr. Bhakta Tripathy, Mr. Sandeep Mishra, Ms. Tilottama Nayak etc.