Noted social worker and former Rajya Sabha member Alajangi Viswanath Swamy passed away at his house at Khariar Road in Nuapada district on Tuesday. He was 91.
Family sources said he died due to old age-related ailments. He is survived by three daughters and two sons.
Swamy was elected to the Upper House of Parliament as an independent candidate on April 4, 2012 and he remained in office for a full term of six years till April 3, 2018.
Swamy had studied Degree in Chemical Engineering. He was a follower of Vinoba Bhave, the founder of Bhoodan Andolan ( Land Gift Movement. He played an active role as a social reformer in Bhave’s Bhoodan Movement. He is regarded as one of the most prominent social reformers of Odisha.
Swamy was also the president of the the Utkal Sammilani, Nuapada district branch.
“Swamy had played a very big role in strengthening the Utkal Sammilani organistoian and promoting Odia languate and culture. He had worked a lot for upliftment of tribals. He was a vivid Bhoodan Movement activist. He was very friendly and simple man having a clean image. His demise is a great loss for people of Odisha in general and Utkal Sammilani in particular,” said Sammilani central committee president Basant Kumar Tripathy.
The Central committee too organised a condolence meeting under chairmanship of Tripathy, informed general secretary Dr Radhanath Praharaj.