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The 10th edition of the illustrious Odisha Citizens Award (OCA) instituted by Odisha’s no-1 news channel OTV is back this year to honour personalities in recognition of their contribution to society in their respective fields. The selection committee of OCA-2022 has short-listed four nominees in nine different categories.
Instituted by OTV, Odisha Citizens Award is a pioneer recognition conferred on personalities in recognition of their contribution to the society in fields of Agriculture, Art and Culture, Industry, Education, Entertainment, Social Service, Sports to Health Services and Politics. You can participate in online voting.
Vote for OCA 2022
Here goes the list of nominees in the field of social service
Radhakant Tripathy
Radhakant Tripathy is a lawyer by profession but a social activist at heart. His heart beats for every downtrodden. Hailing from Bhadrak district, Tripathy has always been in the forefront when it comes to fighting for issues related to women. So far, he has filed more than 16,000 cases with Rights Commission especially National Human Rights Commission and succeeded in addressing the plight of needy by winning 12,000 cases. He has helped as many as 50,000 displaced victims of Rebo-Kapali Sanskar Project to avail Rs 70 crore compensation without taking a single penny from them. Thanks to him, landless leper families of Dagamunda in Bhadrak district were given land pattas. Besides, he was successful in drawing the attention of National Human Rights Commission towards setting up of schools, Anganwadi Centres in the district. In other words, it can be said that he is a messiah for poor, destitute and neglected people of Bhadrak. He has been nominated for Odisha Citizens Award in the category of social service for his immense contribution towards the downtrodden.
Anushree Das
She has been a driving force on the quest to eradicate myths surrounding menstruation in Odisha. Her determination to educate and provide tribal women with sanitary products has earned her accolades as a remarkable inspiration to all. Apart from empowering women about menstrual hygiene during periods, her organisation ‘AdiBha She Vision’ is providing free pads to women residing in tribal pockets. She also creates awareness about pad disposal after using it. She visits government schools to create awareness among teenage girls about menstrual hygiene. That’s not all. She also gives talks on issues pertaining to women’s rights and marital rights of women. She helps women who are being meted out torture following their marriage.
Narayani Panda
For doctor Narayani Panda, age is just a number. At the age of 80, she keeps attending to patients without hesitation. A resident of Sambalpur, she has been attending patients for the last 50 years. Though she retired from her job, she is yet to retire from social services. Her active involvement in varied social activities speaks volumes about her selfless service to people. After her retirement, she kept serving the needy at her house. Panda had donated Rs 30 lakh to Gangadhar Meher University, Sambalpur. She has also decided to donate her two-storey building to a school. She never hesitate to give donations when it comes to setting up of a library, hospital and classroom. To sum up, she has become an inspiration for others by devoting her life for the service of the needy.
Sachindra Behera
Sachindra Behera, a resident of Bhadrak Basudevpur, has been carrying bodies of deceased for post-mortem for the last 40 years. Popular as Sukuta Bhai in his locality, the octogenarian leaves home early in the morning every day and takes bodies be it of known or unknown people on his jeep to hospitals for post-mortem. Even he bears the expenses of funeral rituals when relatives of the deceased find it hard. So far, he has carried more than 5,000 bodies to mortuary rooms all alone. But he is yet to be tired.
