Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday paid deep respects to the noted socialist leader and founder of Odia daily Pragativadi, Pradyumna Bal on his 89th birth anniversary.
Addressing the commemoration function via video conference, Patnaik hailed Pradyumna Bal and defined him as a lifetime principled man in his speech.
“Pradyumna Babu was a person who fought against the aborigines of society and deprived value of the system. He fought relentlessly to uphold the democratic system during his time. Throughout his life, as a student leader, politician, social worker, and journalist, Bal laid utmost importance to values,” said Naveen.
“Due to Pradyumna Babu’s effort, now Pragativadi has moved on from being weekly to a leading Odia daily newspaper and created an identity for itself. In the true footsteps of its founder, Pragativadi has now promoted true democratic values and also upholding the true essence of journalism,” he said.
“Voice of people matters a lot in democracy and Odisha has stood as an example for other states in terms of facing natural calamities and disaster management systems. A woman from Malkangiri suggested us to enhance health care facilities in the state and we followed her by launching the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana scheme. And it defines the voice of people which keeps merit for good governance. I call everyone to follow Pradyumna Babu’s words to strengthen democracy,” the Odisha CM concluded.
