Biswanath Pattnaik was a well-known veteran

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalism, ...

Sarvodaya Sarvōdaya ( hi, सर्वोदय '' sarv-'' "all", '' uday'' "rising") is a Sanskrit term which generally means "universal uplift" or "progress of all". The term was used by Mahatma Gandhi as the title of his 1908 translation of John Ruskin ...

and

Bhoodan The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary land reform movement in India. It was initiated by Gandhian Vinoba Bhave in 1951 at Pochampally village, Pochampally The Bhoodan movement attempted ...

leader. He won the

Jamnalal Bajaj Award Jamnalal Bajaj Award is an Indian award, for promoting Gandhian values, community service and social development. Established in 1978, by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation of Bajaj Group, it is given annually in four categories, and usually presented ...

in 2008 for his social, medical, and education

work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal tr ...

in the tribe-dominated areas of

Kujendri Kujendri is a small village of Rayagada district in the state of Odisha, India. There is a Govt. High school of welfare department since 1949. The veteran Gandhian and Jamnalal Bajaj award winner Biswanath PattnaikBaliguda Baliguda is a town in Kandhamal district of Odisha, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populou ...

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

state, India.

Early life

Biswanath Pattnaik was born on 11 November 1916 in Kumarada, a village of what was then Ganjam district. Biswanath studied in his village school. His father, Upendra Pattnaik, died when he was a child. After this, his grandfather, Ghanashyam Pattnaik, looked after him. Later, he traveled to

Srikakulam Srikakulam is a city and the headquarters of Srikakulam district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. census,. it has a population of 165,735. There are many other places of Buddhist Tourism such as Salihundam, Kalinga Patnam, Dabbaka Vaa ...

in Andhra Pradesh where he studied until class 8 before dropping out. At the age of 17, he started his career as an informal teacher at his village school with a monthly salary of seven rupees. It was there that he was inspired by the Gandhian Sri Gopabandhu Choudhury, and started working as his assistant. Sri Choudhury sent him to Koraput to expand the

Khadi Khadi (, ), derived from khaddar, is a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi as ''swadeshi'' (self-sufficiency) for the freedom struggle of the Indian subcontinent, and the term is used throughout India, Pakistan ...

movement (as part of the

Swadeshi The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public in ...

, or ''self-sufficiency'' movement). Sri Pattnaik arrived in

Kujendri Kujendri is a small village of Rayagada district in the state of Odisha, India. There is a Govt. High school of welfare department since 1949. The veteran Gandhian and Jamnalal Bajaj award winner Biswanath Pattnaiknationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

and independence movements that were occurring in Odisha around the same time. He started his work in Banabasi Seva Samiti (founded by Sri Gopabandhu Choudhury in 1972) and took up issues like education and upliftment of the poor tribespeople. The Samiti ran several residential schools for the tribal children, orphanages and old age homes. He helped popularize the Khadi movement and in Koraput that he was called ''Koraputia Gandhi''. He also campaigned against discrimination against the

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

and the institution of "

untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

." Under his leadership and the direction of Krupasindhu Hota, people of the

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

entered the Hindu temple at Kujendri. A close associate of

Vinoba Bhave Vinayak Narahari, also known as Vinoba Bhave (; 11 September 1895 – 15 November 1982), was an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights. Often called ''Acharya'' (Sanskrit teacher), he is best known for the Bhoodan Movement. He is cons ...

, Pattnaik was better known as "agnya" ('Sir' in Oriya) by the people around him. Later he joined the

Quit India movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

. He started the

Bhoodan movement The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary land reform movement in India. It was initiated by Gandhian Vinoba Bhave in 1951 at Pochampally village, Pochampally The Bhoodan movement attempted ...

in the Koraput area which was successful in bringing change to the region.

Awards

Sri Pattnaik received the following awards amongst others: *Best Social Worker Award from Bharatiya Adimajati Sevak Sangh, 1995 *Justice Rajksishore Das Samman, 1996 *Sarala Award, 2002 *Rajiv Gandhi Sadvabana Award, 2003 *Pradyumna Bala Sammana *Kondhamala Citizen Forum Felicitation Award *Jamnalal Bajaj Award, 2008 Film maker Ajaya Bharadwaj has started making a documentary film on the work of Biswanath Pattnaik.

Death

Shri Pattnaik died on 29 May 2010 at Baliguda, Kandhamal district, Odisha. He was 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pattnaik, Biswanath Gandhians Indian independence activists from Odisha 1916 births 2010 deaths People from Odisha People from Ganjam district

Early life

Awards

Death

See also

References