Berhampur: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has scheduled a visit to Surat (Gujarat) December 17 to interact with Odias working there about various problems they encounter there, said a report here Sunday.
Patnaik will review the problems faced by Odias in the Gujarat city and planned to involve over seven lakh Odia labourers in the Biju Janata Dal’s recently floated labour outfit Biju Sramika Samukhya. The matter came to the fore after a team from the party’s Ganjam district went to Surat Sunday to finalise the programme on the Chief Minister’s visit.
The team comprising Subhash Chandra Behera, Zilla Parishad member and organizing secretary of the party’s district unit, N Dhananjaya Rao, district BYJD president, Prasant Kumar Panda, district BCJD president and Surath Pradhan, former chairperson of Ganjam Zilla Parishad on reaching Surat held talks with the office bearers of Odia outfits in the Textile City.
Notably, many Odia labourers from Ganjam district are working in various plants and textile mills in Surat. Many of them are residing with their families in Gujarat and earning their livelihood from various businesses and trade.
The Odias living in Surat have been demanding flight services for immediate travel to their home towns in Odisha, construction of a Odisha Bhawan by the state government, establishment of schools for Odia children and resolving the problems faced by Odia labourers.
The Odias residing there have planned to accord a rousing reception to the Chief Minister during his visit and place their demands before him. Earlier, a team comprising Gopalpur MLA Pradip Kumar Panigrahi, Polsara MLA Srikant Sahu, Sorada MLA Purnachandra Swain and others visited Surat in October and held discussions with the members of the Odia outfits in the city.
PNN
