To protest negligence to Odia language in Odisha, a cycle rally from Santiniketan in West Bengal to Satyabadi in Puri district was launched by members of the All Utkal Odia Graduate Honours Students’ Association on Saturday.
Odia Professors, lecturers and students and other Odia staffs of the Visva-Bharati University gathered and fagged off the rally in the varsity campus. Among others, Professor Kailash Patnaik, Professor Giribala Mohanty, Dr Rabindra Das, Dr Pramila Patulia, Hiranmaya Banerjee and lecturer Indramani Sahu lauded the move taken by the varsity’s Odia students.
Most of them criticised the Odisha Government for not recruiting Odia teachers in schools, colleges and universities to fill up vacant posts for years. “It is a matter of astonishment that the Odisha Government is appointing teachers for Telugu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu, Santali and Kui subject but not filling up vacant Odia posts,” said Banerjee. They opined that the rally would create awareness among Odias and encourage all concerned to uphold the language.
According to the schedule, the rally would reach laxmananath in Baleswar district on May 21 where they would be welcomed by Odia scholars, poets and activists of Odia language and cultural organisations. From there, the rally would move across six districts to reach Satyabadi on May 31. A total of 30 public meetings would be organised in these 16 days. Besides, the rally would move across cities like Jaleswar, Baleswar, Soro, Bhadrak, Salepur, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Pipili and Sataybadi.