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Meet noted social activist and pioneer of Bhoodan Movement in the state A V Swamy from Khariar Road in Nuapada district. It was 1956. A V Swamy equipped though with a degree in chemical engineering from Mumbai returned to the state with a different dream. He jumped into the Bhoodan and Gramdan movements launched by great Gandhian Binoba Bhave. A V Swamy had realised well that the villages could develop properly if the panchayats are equipped with real power.
He had a meeting with legendary Biju Patnaik. Biju Patnaik impressed by A V Swamy appointed him as the first non-government or honorary BDO of Boipariguda in undivided Koraput district. That was 1961 and A V Swamy`s honorarium was fixed at just Rs 1 per annum.
A V Swamy served in that capacity for three years. He then had given the 17-point proposal to bring in reforms in the panchayat sysytem. Swamy`s dream was accomplished when all his points were incorporated when the Parliament amended the constitution for the panchayati raj system. A V Swamy in his ripe age remembers his association with Biju Patnaik and dreams of his very own panchayati raj system and its success.
