Biju Patnaik, whose birth anniversary is celebrated on March 5, had a brief tenure in office. But within that short period during which he took the stewardship of the State administration, Biju laid the blue print for Odisha’s development and the State was on the threshold of a new of industrial revolution. He not only accelerated the process of development, but was able to locate a number of new industries in the State – the MIG factory as Sunabeda, Balimela Dam, Public Corporations, Panchayat industries, Express Highway and a lot many.
His ambitious projects, which he named as “Decade of Destiny”, were meant to elevate the State to a new height. Biju could not tolerate red-tapism. He would have a thing done immediately and not suffer any delay.
Result: He was charged with administrative impropriety. The importance that Biju attached to Odisha’s industrial development was reflected in his speech which he delivered at the inauguration of the Odisha Planning Board on June 15, 1962.
He had said – “A people cannot grow unless the industries were developed and established here”. Calling upon the bureaucrats to change their work-style, Patnaik said, “ In the new set-up in the new adventure which we are going to embark upon, I would expect my officials to become thinkers. I would expect them to collectively and willingly push the State towards the goal of prosperity.
I would expect them to become leaders of men and not leaders of the longest notes on the files”. At the invitation of Biju Patnaik, internationally known biologist, scientist and philosopher Prof JBS Haldane accepted the post of the Director of the Biometry and Genetics Laboratory at Bhubaneswar, which was set up by the Government of Odisha.
Prof Haldane, who imparted to the Indian scientific scene a certain colour and character, became an Indian citizen in 1960 and devoted himself to assisting development of science in this rapidly developing country. He accepted Biju’s offer because he (Biju) was ‘capable of displaying great respect towards individuals whom he considered to be performing worthwhile work’. This genius died in Bhubaneswar on December 1, 1964.
After Biju Patnaik took the reins of the State administration, Odisha witnessed rapid strides in education. The period between 1961 and 1967 is aptly described as the golden era in the history of education of the State. At his initiative the Regional College of Education was set up at Bhubaneswar.
The Regional Engineering College at Rourkela was established in 1961, the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology was set up and during the Chief Ministership of Biren Mitra (when Biju was Chairman of the State Planning Board), universities were established in Brahmapur andSambalpur.
Thus Biju is responsible for the giant leap forward of education in Odisha. When the Union Government refused to construct the Paradip Port, as the Chief Minister of Odisha he took upon himself to mobilise resources from within the State and built the Rs 14-crore port when the Centre did not show much interest in the project. Patnaik’s strong stand on the issue was vindicated when the Centre took over the port after some years.
Biju proved his extraordinary organising ability by successfully holding the Congress Session in 1964 at Bhubaneswar. His dream was fulfilled when on March 12, 1966, the Paradip Port was commissioned.
Pandit Nehru had asked him to visit the United States as an emissary to the Ministry of External Affairs and discuss sensitive defence issues with the US administration. During his stay in Washington, Biju gave interviews to ‘Baltimore Sun’ and ‘Washington Post’, in which he said that he had come to seek both ground to ground and air to air missiles along with radars, which could conceivably be tied to a network of the South East Asian Treaty Organisation (SEATO).
The Opposition charged Biju Patnaik with ‘impropriety of revealing defence secrets, including details of the strength of the Indian Army’.
There was a furore in Parliament and even Lok Sabha Speaker Sardar Hukum Singh ruled that- ‘it is not proper to disclose such information which is denied here’.
But the Prime Minister strongly supported Biju and declared in the Parliament that whatever has been said by him to American newspapers ‘did not harm us in any way’. This controversy highlighted how close Biju was to Pt Nehru.
The Indian National Congress split in 1969. In May 1970 Biju Patnaik and his followers left the Congress (R) in protest against “naked bossism” and central imposition after he had been denied a ticket to Rajya Sabha by the Congress High Command; although his case was sponsored by the Provincial Congress Committee. In 1970 he resigned from Congress Party and subsequently formed a regional party Utkal Congress. In the 1971 election, no party came out with a clear majority.
Biju Patnaik and the Swatantra leader RN Singh Deo joined hands. This came as a surprise to political observers, as Singh Deo was a bitter critic of Biju. And with the support of the Jharkhand Party, they formed a United Front.
Biju successfully persuaded the 82 years Old veteran politician Biswanath Das to become the Chief Minister, after his long spell of political retirement.
A long illustrious career came to an end on April 17, 1997 when Biju Patnaik passed away at Delhi.
(The writer is a columnist based at Khordha, Mob: 8895547490)
