Bhubaneswar: The Executive Committee (EC) meeting of the Odisha Political Science Association (OPSA) for the forthcoming annual conference was held at the Pantha Nivas in the capital city on Sunday.
The meeting was presided over by the president of OPSA Prof Surya Narayan Mishra while the general secretary Dr Pramod Kumar Ray spoke about the activities of the Association and the ensuing annual conference.
The meeting also deliberated on the proposals put forth by the 20 office-bearers of the Association.
Keeping the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases in Odisha in view, the meeting unanimously decided to postpone the annual conference of the Association scheduled on May 1 and 2 to the fourth week of November this year.
Apart from this, the EC decided to form six panels viz., ‘Election and Politics in India’, ‘Governance: Issues and Challenges’, ‘Public Policy and Inclusive Development’, ‘India and Contemporary World’, ‘Politics and Administration in Odisha’ and ‘Gender Issues and Development’ for deliberations during the annual conference.
The EC also passed a unanimous proposal to increase the number of the life members and accept the associate members (who have completed their PhD and those pursuing the PhD in Political Science) for one year between the two conferences organized by the Association.
Among others, organizing secretary for the ensuing annual conference Dr Smita Nayak, Prof Asima Sahu, editor, OPSA Journal, OPSA vice-president Dr Manas Behera, former OPSA President and presently the EC member Prof Jugal K Mishra, Smruti Ranjan Mishra (joint secretary), Dr Jayant Parida (joint editor), Dr Saroj Kumar Jena, Dr Sribatsa Kumar Sahu, Dr Amulya Kumar Tripathy, Dr Pradeep Harichandan, Dr Muktikanta Mohanty, Dr Hari Prasad Tula, Dr Suresh Chandra Patel, Kamalakanta Biswal, Shyama Charan Das, Nrusingha Prasad Mishra and Dr Lalatendu Swain participated in the meeting while joint secretary Umakanta Patra proposed a vote of thanks.