Bhubaneswar: Veteran Congress leader Sriballav Panigrahi was a rare breed of politican who never compromised on his principles of honesty and integrity, said speakers at his 10th death anniversary observed here yesterday. Glowing tributes were paid to former Minister, Member of Parliament, Trade Union Leader, Educationist, and veteran Congress leader at a function held at Jaidev Bhawan.

Leaders cutting across party lines attended the function organized by the Sriballav & Sunanda Panigrahi Foundation.

Inducted into the State Cabinet (of Smt. Nandini Satpathy) in 1973 at a very young age of 32, he was widely regarded as India’s youngest Cabinet Minister of that era. Sriballav introduced the first ever land reforms in Odisha during his tenure as Revenue Minister. Also, during his tenure as Irrigation Minister, he increased the availability of water in the drought prone areas of the state significantly.

An eminent parliamentarian, during his three terms as a member of the Lok Sabha, he made a mark for himself as a strong orator and a powerful votary of development of the state. He was made member of powerful committees like the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the stock market scam and the JPC on the Broadcast Bill. As a recognition of his Parliamentary performance, he was appointed as the first Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum and Chemicals, when this system was introduced in 1993. Sriballav was instrumental in establishing the Mini-Ratna Company Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) in Sambalpur and also the Railway Division.

The function began with the offering of tributes to the late leader andperformances by his granddaughters. Saanvi (11) played a Krisha Bhajan on the flute while eldest grand-daughter Tisya played Gandhiji’s Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram and Vaishnava Jana Toh.

Unvieling of souvenir

Speaking on the occasion, Bhakta Charan Das, President, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, Former Union Minister said ‘Sriballav Babu was truly an inspirational leader, he was a shining star in the murky world of politics. I consider him a true leader who used to give me tips irrespective of me being in the other side of the political spectrum. In the initial days of my political career, I was an aggressive person, he used to offer me sane advice by asking me to have patience and that I had a long way to go.He never compromised on his principles of honesty and integrity, in spite of such qualities being a liability in today’s world. He was knowledgeable and very well read. Following his simple life and high thinking will be a true tribute to his legacy’.

Recalling his days as the Railway Minister, he said Sriballav Babu was instrumental in setting up and expediting the Sambalpur Talcher Railway Line. He pushed for the Sambalpur Railway Division to be given more work and in the process, due to our collective efforts, we were able to bring Odisha into the national railways network.

He was happy that the Sriballav Panigrahi foundation was honoring his legacy year after year and promised to participate in all such commemorations.

Distinguished guests

Lok Sabha MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka said that he took inspiration from the speeches made by Sriballav in Parliament. He urged the foundation to compile Sriballav’s valuable speeches made in the Parliament into a book so that younger generations can learn from him. He offered all help for making this book. He also talked about Sriballav’s fight in Parliament to include Sambalpuri language in the 8th Schedule of the constitution. He said his father Ramachandra Ulaka and Sriballav Babu were Cabinet Colleagues in the 70s and that he used to have many discussions with father in which Sriballav Babu found mention as a strong and development-oriented leader. 

Niranjan Patnaik, Trustee, Sriballav & Sunanda Panigrahi Foundation; Former Minister & Former President, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, presided over the function. He recalled with fondness his association with Sriballav, which was more than 50 years old. He said the present day’s murky politics can be changed if politicians follow the path of simplicity, honesty, value-based politics practiced by Sriballav. He said ‘In today’s world when politicians change three parties in a day, it is incredible that Sriballav remained wedded to the principles of the Congress party till his death. This is an inspiration for the younger generation, and a textbook example of politics based on values, principles and ideology. 

Ramachandra Khuntia, Vice-President, All India INTUC, President INTUC Odisha; Former Member of Parliament talked offered tributes on behalf of more than 2.3 crore members of the INTUC family in India. He talked about how Sriballav strengthened the workers’ movement in Odisha. He also talked about how Sriballav was always at the forefront of forcefully raising issues related to the working class in the Parliament. He was very happy to share that the workers union built by Sriballav: Orissa Collieries Mazdoor Sangh (OCMS) continues to be one of the largest Trade Unions in the country. His work in establishing MCL and his efforts in making it a productive and welfare driven organization had made MCL a huge success.

A special video message was received from Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Chief Minister of Haryana, who paid tribute to Sriballav Panigrahi as a personal friend. He emphasized on Panigrahi’s remarkable intelligence and ability to grasp complex things. He said he was a “rare and incorruptible public servant.”

Among others the people who spoke were Soubhagya Chandra Pradhan, General Secretary of Odisha Collieries Mazdoor Sangh, Akshay Kumar Biswal, Former General Secretary of FCI, Workers Union, Talcher and Shri SC Padhi, former Director of Personnel MCL and NALCO also spoke on the occasion.

In attendance were several luminiaries like the first and only Odia CMD of MCL CR Das, former minister and MP Jagannath Patnaik, former minister Panchanan Kanungo, fomer MP Ananta Prasad Sethi etc. 

Priyadarshee Panigrahi, Managing Trustee and elder son of Late Sriballav Panigrahi, delivered the welcome address while younger Son and Trustee, Rajarshi Panigrahi delivered the vote of thanks. The function was ably conducted by Padmakar Guru.