Slamming the State Government for forming another committee to accord State Anthem status to Odia patriotic song Bande Utkal Janani, the Utkal Sammilani has termed the move as a dillydallying practice by the Government. Sammilani Mancheswar Industrial Estate Branch head Dillip Dashsharma said that the song had been sung with respect in the Assembly since 1994. As many as three committees had been formed under the chairmanships of the then Assembly Speaker Sarat Kumar Kar in 2003 and Maheswar Mohanty as the then Speaker in 2006 and Culture and Tourism Minister in 2012.
At the committees’ meetings, the first, fourth and sixth stanzas of the song had been recognised as the State Anthem and it was decided to limit the song to 90 minutes with the voice of late Balakrushna Das. “The three committees could not do anything to accord the State Anthem status to the patriotic composition from 2002 to 2015,” Dashsharma alleged, adding that while the Utkal University of Culture has been entrusted with the task of giving a formal shape and voice to the song, formation of another committee is only meant to delay the course of action longer.
