OST Bureau
Cuttack, Jan 30:

Former MLA of undivided Erasama constituency of Jagatsinghpur district (1961-66) Ratnamali Jema passed away at her residence at Paradipgarh on Wednesday afternoon.
image
She was 98 and is survived by her son Biswambhar Samant and daughter Dr Bani Samant.

Jema sustained injuries on her head while she was on a morning walk two weeks ago. She was undergoing treatment at a private clinic at the CDA area of the city.

Jema’s husband Narayan Birabar Samant, also a former MLA, had died earlier.

Eminent litterateur Manoj Das is her son-in-law.

Born in 1915 in the Kujang royal family, Jema had participated actively in the civil disobedience movement.

During her tenure as the MLA of Erasama, she had played a major role in expediting the Paradip port project and other infrastructure development of her constituency.

Senior Congress leaders including former OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik, Paradip Town Congress president Ranjan Kumar Das and Kujang block Congress president Santosh Kumar Das have condoled her death.

Her last rites were held at the village cremation ground.