Around 50,000 people across the State participated in a mini marathon, organised by the Kalinga TV, in the State capital and all district headquarters on Sunday to create awareness on ‘Education for All’.
People from different walks of life irrespective of age, caste, creed and religion participated in the marathon held in 34 towns, including the district headquarters.
In Bhubaneswar, as many as 20,000 people including intellectuals, politicians, cine stars, youths, players, students and staffs of the KIIT and KISS participated in the marathon that began from the 7th Battalion Ground and culminated at the KIIT University Stadium.
MP Dr Prasanna Patasani, MlA Priyadarshi Mishra, I and PR Department Secretary Manoranjan Panigrahi, Samajwadi Party State president Rabi Behera, Utkal University former Vice-Chancellor Dr Bimalendu Mohanty, cine stars Sabyasachi Mishra and Archita Sahu, KIIT University Vice-Chancellor Prof PP Mathur, Kalinga TV Founder Dr Achyuta Samanta, MD Himanshu Khuta and Chief Editor Soumyajit Patnaik jointly flagged off the run. Excise Minister Dr Damodar Rout, Technical Education Minister Sanjay Das Burma, MlA Akash Das Nayak and KIIT Varsity Registrar Dr Sasmitarani Samanta joined the valedictory session.
In Keonjhar, Collector Dr N Thirumalla Naik and SP Kavita Jalan flagged off the marathon participated by a thousand of school and college students. The guests opined that the school dropout rate is still high in Keonjhar. Hence, a lot needs to be done both at Government and non-Government level.
In Paradip, the mini marathon was held from the Bethany Convent School to Gopabandhu Stadium covering a 3-km distance. Bethany Convent School Principal Sister Silpa inaugurated the marathon. Jagatsinghpur MP Dr Kulamani Samal and PPT FA and CAO SK Sahoo joined as guests. Scores of school and college students along with local youths ran for the cause.