The Utkal Sammilani celebrated the birth anniversary of Kantakabi Laxmikanta Mohapatra with its members paying floral tributes at his statue near the General Post Office here on Monday.
Sammilani Mancheswar branch president Dillip Dashsharma presiding over the programme said even if the people has accepted ‘Bande Utkal Janani’ as State song, still State Government has not accorded anthem status to it.
Senior scribe Guru Kalyan Mahapatra said the image of the Government would be tarnished if the State song status is not accorded to ‘Bande Utkal Janani’ at the earliest. Scribe Prabhu Kalyan Mahapatra, Sita Ballav Mahapatra, Mahabhava Mahapatra, Sammilani joint secretary Ashok Kumar Paltasingh, Basanti Tripathy, Maheswar Biswal, Niranjan Patra, Gopi Mohan Patnaik, Khetra Mohan Nayak and Prakash Kumar Samal paid tributes.