Members of the Utkala Sammilani Central Committee and its branches across the State sang the ‘Bande Utkala Janani’ song on Saturday evening responding to the call given by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to show support to Covid warriors.
Sammilani Central Committee president Basanta Kumar Tripathy and general secretary Dr Radhanath Praharaj played leading roles in the programme.
On the occasion, they urged the Chief Minister to publish a gazette at the earliest declaring the Utkala Janai song as State Anthem with a particular stanza size and specific tone and time limit.
Notably, the song written by Kantakabi Laxmikanta Mohapatra had been first introduced as the Utkal Sammilani’s welcome song in the year 1912.
