Veteran Odisha journalist Basant Das no more; CM condoles

Bhubaneswar: Veteran journalist Basant Das is no more. He lost his battle to COVID-19 today.

The senior journalist was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. He passed away in the morning. He was 81.

Known for his recent book titled ‘Political History of Modern Odisha’, Das was the author of 16 books to his credit. He was conferred with the prestigious Odisha Sahitya Academy Award for his book ‘Je Desh Jai, Se Fala Khai’. He had received acclamation from many organisations for the award winning book.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed his deep grief over departure of the journalist and author Basant Das.

“Late Basant Das had made achievements as the columnist and political analyst. He was active in journalism over the past 50 years. He will remembered for his immense contribution to literature and journalism,” Patnaik said in his condolence message.

Basant Das, a multifaceted personality, had opted for journalism refusing a lucrative government job after completing his post-graduation in Political Science from Utkal University. He began his career in journalism as a correspondent of Eastern Times, Odisha’s only English Daily in 1965.

He retired as the Chief of Bureau of the Amrita Bazar Patrika group of publications for Odisha in the year 1996.

The well-known political pundit had observed the politics of Odisha during last five decades.

Following his retirement, the veteran journalist and litterateur continued writing the books. He was associated with a large number of social organisations including Odisha Media Academy.