All Panchayats Of Odisha To Have BroadBand Connectivity by 2021: IT Minister

Bhubaneswar: All gram panchayats of Odisha will have broadband connectivity by 2021, said Electronics and information Technology Minister Tusharkanti Behera at  the Odisha Development Global Forum through video-conferencing on Sunday.

Organised by Odisha Society of Americas’ (OSA) library chapter Odisha Public Library Initiative (OPLI), the forum was attended by expert thought leaders on Odisha’s development and library movement lovers across the globe.

Principal secretary, Revenue, Disaster Management and Culture, Bishnupada Sethi stressed on popularising the concept of public libraries, while renowned litterateur Prof Damodar Acharya asserted that IIT alumni will extend all support to OSA and OPLI in sensitising school students on the habit of reading.

BDO of Nuagaon in Phulbani district Manoj Tripathy, who was instrumental in establishing OSA’s Model Library at Sulipada in Mayurbhanj district and four other libraries under MGNREGAS in Phulbani, shared his experience about library endeavour.

Additional Secretary in charge of MGNREGAS Dr Manas Ranjan Debata lauded the effort of OSA in spreading library culture and said all 139 panchayat level libraries in Sambalpur district will be functional by January 26, 2021 under MGNREGAS.

Chief organiser of the summit and president of OSA Kuku Das proposed to set up at least one ICT enabled library in all districts of the state with internet connectivity and suggested to put all libraries under one umbrella programme entitled “Mo Library”.

Conducting the proceedings, Prof Chitta Baral sought Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s intervention in attaching high priority to the OSA’s agenda for Odisha’s growth.

Anchor Prashant Bhuyan coordinated the library session.

Among others who attended the brainstorming internet event included former director of NIIT Prof Sunil Sarangi, former DG of Election Commission of India Prasanna Dash, Nalini Patnaik, Vivek Das, Sudhir Raut, Nishikant Sahoo, Dr. Basant Parida, Ajay Mohanty, Dr. Debendra Majhi, Anil Patnaik, Utkal Nayak, Kunna Dash, Arun Praharaj, Saswat Padhi, Susmita Rajhans and Dr. Sital Kumar.