Trade Union Leader Souribandhu Kar No More

Bhubaneswar: Noted trade union leader, writer and columnist Souribandhu Kar passed away at a private hospital here on late Monday evening.

Kar, who was general secretary of Odisha unit of All India Trade Union Congress, was suffering from liver-related ailments. He was hospitalised three days ago after his health condition deteriorated.

He is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter. His elder son Soubhagya is an Indian Information Service officer posted in New Delhi. His second son Sidharth is a lawyer while daughter Supriya is a translator.

Kar, who worked at Canara Bank till his retirement about a decade ago, was involved with the Left movement for decades and a known CPI leader of the state. He was one of the prominent trade union faces of Odisha and associated with different movements, be it to protect the interests of labourers, bank employees or stop child labour.

Kar also authored several books in different genres such as biographies (Manabatara Mahan Tirtha, Paramhansa Ramakrushna & Rashtranirmata Nehru), short short collections (Nisprabha Ekalabya, Narottama Sadangira Diary), children’s literature (Deshapremi Swami Vivekananda, Babasaheb Ambedkar), prose (Vedantara Swara) and novels (Pratidhwani & Echharama Putra). He won several awards and recognitions including the prestigious Odisha Sahitya Academy award in 2012 for Manabatara Mahan Tirtha.

Kar was born at Jalasarapur village in Jajpur district. His younger brother Bauribandhu Kar was formerly Professor of Odia at Berhampur University.