Bhubaneswar: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has sought the intervention of Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw for release of a postage stamp commemorating late Prasanna Kumar Panda, a veteran leader and social worker from Odisha’s Brajarajnagar town in Jharsuguda district.
In a letter to Vaishnaw, Pradhan said Panda was elected to 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th and 11th Assembly from Brajrajnagar constituency in 1961, 1967, 1974, 1985, 1990 and 1995 elections respectively. He had emerged as in iconic mass leader and people’s voice.
“Panda had played a pivotal role in peasants’ movement in undivided Sambalpur district. He had also worked for development of rural areas and rehabilitation of displaces families of Hirakud dam project,” said Pradhan in the letter.
Born in Sambalpur on June 16, 1922, Panda had been constant voice of the farmers and poor and marginalised section of the society and strived relentlessly for their upliftment till his death on December 16, 1997, the Union minister said.
“As we mark Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav on 75th year of our Independence, keeping in mind the contribution of Panda towards upliftment of poor, peasants and weaker section of the society and the sentiment of the people in western Odisha, I seek your personal intervention to honour him by releasing a commemorative stamp of India Post in his name,” Pradhan said.
