Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Monday decided to observe Panchayati Raj Diwas on April 24 instead of March 5, which is the birth anniversary of former chief minister Biju Patnaik.
The CMO release said that the legendary leader’s birth anniversary will be celebrated with pomp and show and not as a public holiday.
Odisha has been celebrating Panchayati Raj Diwas on March 5 every year in honour of BIju Patnaik, who was a supporter of decentralising power to the grass root level. However, National Panchayati Raj Day is celebrated on April 24 to commemorate constitutionalisation of Panchayati Raj through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1993 to implement development at the grassroots level and allow for democracy in each and every corner of the country. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had declared the first National Panchayati Raj Day on April 24, 2010.
“Every year since 2020, Odisha has been observing Panchayati Raj Day on March 5, while April 24 is celebrated as National Panchayati Raj Day across India. On this occasion, awards such as the Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Award and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act Award are presented to Panchayat representatives from various States. To remove this anomaly, the state government has decided to no longer observe March 5 as Panchayati Raj Diwas in Odisha. It will instead be celebrated on April 24,” the release said, adding that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has approved the proposal.
It further stated that March 5 is the birth anniversary of Odisha’s ‘Baraputra’ Biju Patnaik. “There will be grand celebrations on this day. However, it will not be observed as a public holiday,” it added.
This came hours after the opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) expressed disappointment over the state government’s indifference towards celebrating Panchayati Raj Diwas on March 5.
“The Panchayati Raj Diwas has been celebrated on the birth date of Biju Babu since the early 1990’s, irrespective of the party in power in Odisha. All previous governments in the state have celebrated it on March 5 since the 90’s. But it is a matter of great sorrow that no preparations or decision have been taken by the present Mohan Charan Majhi government even as only two days left for the 109th birth anniversary of Biju Patnaik on March 5,” senior BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra told a presser.
