Row Over Panchayati Raj Diwas Date Change Intensifies, BJD Gives Clarion Call For March 6 Statewide Protest

Bhubaneswar: The BJD has announced to launch agitations in all 147 Assembly constituencies in Odisha on Thursday to protest against the Mohan Majhi government’s decision to shift Panchayati Raj Divas from Biju Jayanti on March 5 to April 24.

“The auspicious birth anniversary of Biju Patnaik will be celebrated across the state on March 5. But, on March 6, we will hold state-wide protests against the government’s anti-constitution attitude,” senior party leader Sanjay Das Burma told a presser on Tuesday.

He strongly criticises the government’s decision to observe the Panchayati Raj Diwas on April 24 in a departure from the previous practice in the state of marking it on March 5, the birth anniversary of former chief minister Biju Patnaik.

Besides shifting the date, the government further stated that Biju Patnaik’s birth anniversary will be celebrated with pomp and ceremony, but it will no longer be a government holiday. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday also invited Leader of Opposition (LoP) and BJD president Naveen Patnaik to attend the state-level function to be organised by the government in memory of the legendary leader.

Also Read: Odisha Panchayati Raj Diwas Date Change: Oppn Slams BJP Govt For ‘Disrespecting’ Biju Patnaik

The BJD, however, is not impressed. It has instead termed this decision as an insult to the former CM and an evil design to systematically erase his legacy.

Burma exhorted people of Odisha, including the youths, students and women, to participate in the protest on March 6 against what he claimed was a deceit committed by the state government.

Also Read: Panchayati Raj Diwas Date Changed: Schools, Colleges & Varsities In Odisha To Remain Open Tomorrow

The senior BJD leader further said that Biju Babu was not only the first to implement the three-tier Panchayati Raj system but also the first leader in India who had said, ‘Gaon Ku Kama and Maa Ku Samman’ (availability of jobs in villages and respect to women). “Biju Babu was of the view that Odisha or India couldn’t develop until the women were not empowered and they were not engaged in policy-making at the village level.”

Three important Acts – Orissa Gram Panchayat (Amendment) Act, Orissa Panchayat Samiti (Amendment) Act and the Orissa Zilla Parishad (Amendment) Act, were passed in 1991 during Biju Patnaik’s second term as the CM, providing one-third seats for women in Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) bodies. With this, Odisha had become the first state to reserve one-third of the seats in PRIs

Burma added that the former Chief Minister of Odisha was the first in the country to take the revolutionary step to ensure 33 per cent reservation for women in the Panchayati Raj system.

He stressed that Odisha had been observing Panchayati Raj Diwas much before the Centre started to celebrate it. “The Union government has been celebrating Panchayati Raj Day on April 24 since 2010 while the Odisha government has been celebrating it for the last three decades.”

Earlier, the Conch party held a peaceful protest near the statue of Biju Patnaik at Bhubaneswar airport, urging the state government to revoke the decision.

Law Minister  Prithiviraj Harichandan, however, said that the BJD’s contention that the state government has insulted Biju Babu is wrong and illogical. “Elaborate arrangements are being made for state-level celebration of the birth anniversary of the great son of the soil in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Chhatrapur,” he said.