There was a sanguine hope that Sadheikala and Kharsuan area- erstwhile princely States of Odisha which became a part of Bihar upon State reorganisation, would merge with Odisha after formation of new Jharkhand State.
Keeping the goal in mind the then president of Utkal Sammilani Harishchandra Buxipatra, general secretary Basanta Kumar Panigrahi, former Speaker of Odisha legislative Assembly Judhisthira Das and Harihara Bahinipati met with the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Affairs lal Krishna Advani and advocated for merger Sadheikala and Kharsuan with Odisha.
While Advani outright rejected the demand, Vajpayee was more discreet in saying that you people have added one more problem to my basket. This happened because Odisha was politically weak and the representatives of Utkal Sammilani were not able to get Government support. Thus the merger demand evaporated in thin air.
Buxipatra and members of the delegation felt very much sad at that time. This was an opportune moment to encash our longstanding demand but destiny dispensed otherwise.
Buxipatra was crestfallen because even after a fight lasting more than four decades he could not fulfill his dream. It was almost a lone battle.
Much earlier, as the president of Ravenshaw College union, being fully aware of the geopolitical situation, he raised the merger issue of Sadheikala and Kharsuan in 1956 but was politically thwarted in his endeavour. He was bold and upright in his thought and action for the cause of Odia people.
Unfortunately many Odia speaking tracts could not geographically merge with Odisha till now, yet Odia brethren of the neighbouring States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal along with Sadheikala and Kharsuan can now read and write in their mother tongue.
Thanks to the sustained efforts of Utkal Sammilani and generosity of Government of Odisha, this has been possible due to State funding to run Odia lipi Shiskha Kendras by the Utkal Sammilani in four States with appointment of 600 Odia teachers. On an average, 30 students have been enrolled in each Odia lipi Shiskha Kendra with a yearly total of 18,000 students in the area of operation since 2003 till date.
The entire programme is monitored by Utkal Sammilani with active support of resident Odias of the concerned States. Utkal Sammilani has received generous grant-in-aid from the Government of Odisha Rs 36 lakh (2003-04), Rs 28 lakh (2006-07), Rs 26 lakh (2007-08), RS 1.12 crore (2008-09) and from 2009-10 to 2015-16 except 2010-11, yearly grant of Rs 80 lakh. Additionally a sum of Rs 44 lakh was received during the year 2015-16. The teachers were being paid Rs 1,500 per month as remuneration up to November 2015 but from December 2015 they are paid Rs 3,000.00 per month. Utkal Sammilani is proud of its modest achievement and the Odias living in adjoining States can hold their head high and feel proud that they have now a medium to preserve their birth right to read and write in Odia against all odds.
Time may come when literary Odia language shall be able to flourish as good as the first language of those States.
Incidentally, Kasinath Goud, an Odia poet living in Jharkhand, published a book ‘Kabitanjali’ in Odia and sent to us recently. We are proud for his achievement. This is perhaps the first and if Providence wills many more will follow. Recently, the Governments of Jharkhand and West Bengal accepted Odia as the second language of their State and made it a law. Harishchandra Buxipatra is physically no more with us but his soul, his wisdom and vision for a unified Odia speaking State lingers. It is time to remember a noble soul who loved Odisha from the core of his heart and worked for it while alive. The best honour to remember Buxipatra on his 83rd birth anniversary would be if all Odias unite together to fructify the goals of Utkal Sammilani for which he worked till his last breath.
(The writer is the president, Utkal Sammilani, Mancheswar Industrial Estate Branch, Bhubaneswar. M: 9938537600)