Sarvodaya Leaders observe Nabakrushna Choudhury’s 115th Birth Anniversary

Rayagada, Nov 24: “Nabakrushna Choudhury’s, who officiated as 2nd Chief Minister of Odisha was instrumental in initiating the modern Odisha by establishing Hirakud Dam, Rourkela Steel Plant, Agriculture & Veterinary College, etc. He came from a feudal family; but was pioneer in abolishing zamindari system and promulgating OLR Act during regime. In spite of resistance from his colleagues in the assembly, he was able enact the Odisha Official Language Act-1954.

He took drastic steps in merging the princely states to the state of Odisha. He neither had striven to write his autobiography nor encouraged anybody to do the job. He always used to say that he did not want to rule people by power but by winning hearts. Negative thoughts vanishes if one goes through the life histories of personalities like Naba Krusha Choudhury”, said Sri Jagannath Mohanty, Collector, Rayagada during inaugurating the 115th birth anniversary observed in the campus of Seva Samaj.

We must have passion about our own mother tongue Odia; but we must respect other languages as there are also treasures of learning in other languages. Local tribal languages are also rich in their own way. We should be multilingual with mother tongue as the base. Intolerance is not the need of the hour, said Sri Mohanty.

Introducing the subject, veteran Sarvodaya leader Dr.Ratan Das, who presided over the function, described the simple life Nabakrushna Choudhury led. During his stint as Chief Minister, he preferred to walk than ride a human drawn rickshaw. He was a pro-poor CM and took lot of steps in abolishing bonded labour and money lending system in erstwhile Koraput.

He was never a power hankering person and took the post of CM at the request of the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru. His heart was in the tribal areas like Koraput. He had a dialogue with the Naxalites about the exploitation of the poor by the rich. He wrote to his friend the then Nilam Sanjiv Reddy to pardon Naga Bhusan Pattanaik and his associates, who were then prominent Naxalites and was successful in doing so.

“When Naba Babu fondly called as “Bapi” was Chief Minister once told me to prepare some breakfast for him I found nothing except a bowl of suji. Though I did not know the taste of the CM, I prepared the stuff. He ate with all satisfaction and told me to eat the rest. When I consumed the breakfast, I came to know that the stuff was burnt and so tasteless. I could realize the magnanimity of a person like him and great act of forgiveness”, said Smt. Shanti Devi, an octogenarian Sarvodayee and a Jamnalal Bajaj Awardee.

In his welcome speech Sri J ayaram Jena, Secretary of Utkal Sammilani and Vinoba Smruti Committee, described how Naba babu just left power without hue and cry and started living as a simple person among the unprivileged. He did not even had a house in the state capital and no cavalcade ever followed him when he was in the power corridor. He decided to serve people not by in party politics though he declared that he was not living people’s politics. He was a real Lal Bahadur of Odisha.

Sri Janmejay Swain, Sri Gopi Sahu, Sri Braja Naik, Sri Anubrat Bara spoke on the occasion. Activists of Bhasa Surakshya Sammilani took out a rally in the town demanding enactment of Odisha Official Language Act-1954 and fulfillment of other issues pertaining protection of Odia language. A memorandum was given to the Chief Minister through the Collector in this regard.