Berhampur/Cuttack: It’s nothing less than a travesty to see the birthplace of a legend in utter neglect while his birthday is celebrated with much pomp and show elsewhere.
Odisha marked the 104th birth anniversary of the revolutionary former Chief Minister late Biju Patnaik on Wednesday in a grand manner but it was quite surprising that the 'Tall Man's birth place Nuagaon in Belaguntha block in Ganjam district still calls for attention.
Forget about other basic amenities, people visiting the place won’t even find a proper motorable road connecting it despite Naveen Patnaik, his son hogging the CM’s chair for more than two decades.
Local intellectuals rue that policies and schemes formed on Biju Babu's name have seldom found their way into Nuagaon.
The dilapidated condition of the house where the statesmen was born is self-explanatory of the sheer government apathy towards legacy of the one whom many call as the 'architect of the modern Odisha'.
Though, the State government seems to have turned a blind eye towards Nuagaon, the locals however, had not forgotten their hero. Every year on 5th March, the neighbours and distant relatives of Biju Babu observe his birth anniversary in Nuagaon, hundreds of miles away from the state capital, where the government actually celebrates his birthday as Panchayati Raj Diwas.
Sadly, nobody in the government had ever tried to develop Nuagaon as a tourist destination just like Anand Bhawan in Cuttack which was developed as a museum to commemorate the great man.
Pramod Patnaik, a distant relative of Biju Patnaik said, “The villagers are proud of the fact that the great Biju Babu was born here. We observe Biju Jayanti every year here in our village irrespective of the fact that the government never helped us.”
“We would welcome any developmental works undertaken here to revive the legacy of Biju Babu,” added Pramod.
Prakash Chandra Sahu, a social worker rued the alleged neglect subjected on Nuagaon saying, “Like darkness below the brightest of lamps, it’s very unfortunate that the government has intentionally left the birth place of Biju Babu in neglect.”
Meanwhile, the state government left no stone unturned in observing the birth anniversary of Biju Patnaik with great splendour in Cuttack. As per reports, CM Naveen Patnaik distributed ‘Eligibility Cards’ among the beneficiaries of ‘Biju Pucca Ghar’ scheme and the ‘Jaga Mission’ on Thursday in a huge gathering at the Bali Jatra ground in Cuttack to mark the occasion.
On the other hand, Anand Bhawan at Tulasipur in Cuttack, the erstwhile home of Biju Patnaik which has now been transformed into a museum witnessed a grand ceremony. Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal joined the event to pay homage to the late Biju Patnaik and praised his courage and efforts for development of Odisha.
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