BHUBANESWAR: A day after the State Cabinet approved a proposal seeking First War of Independence status to Paika Rebellion, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday requested the Centre to consider it.In a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Naveen said, declaring 'Paika Bidroha' as the First War of Indian Independence would be a befitting tribute to the 200th anniversary of the rebellion.
The letter comes a day before the Centre holds a special function at Delhi to commemorate the uprising. It would unveiled by President Pranab Mukherjee and attended by kin of 150 martyrs of the war against the
British Raj.
Paika Rebellion was a broad-based and well-organised plural struggle against the oppressive rule of the British East India Company and involved all sections of the people. “It cannot be a mere coincidence that Paika Rebellion measures by its form as well as content provides a marvelous analogy with the subsequent freedom movement and its outcome,” the letter read.
Naveen said, genesis of the events that led to Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 and their further consequences need to be traced back to the earlier instances of organised rebellion against East India Company. Of other such incidents, Paika Rebellion stands out prominently as it was essentially a people’s movement.
“It played the role of a catalyst in shaping people’s movement of resistance which ultimately led to India's Independence Movement,” the Chief Minister said.
The State Government said, the uprising of 1817 which started in Khurda eminently qualifies to be called the First War of Independence not simply because it took place 40 years before the Sepoy Mutiny but due to its very nature and characteristic.
Helping hand for poor women
Bhubaneswar: Around 1800 poverty-stricken women from seven blocks of the State have managed to generate sustainable income sources with the help an economic growth programme which was launched two years back. The programme named - Targeting Hardcore Poor (THP) was started in February 2015 by Kolkata-based NGO Bandhan - Konnagar in collaboration with a global policy and research organisation J-PAL.The poorest of the poor women were identified from rural communities and provided assets like cows, goats and materials for setting up grocery, vegetable, garment and cosmetic shops, Barid Baran, an official of Bandhan Konnagar said. Bandhan Konnagar organised a programme to celebrate the graduation of the first 300 beneficiaries of THP here on Wednesday. While the project had started with 300 beneficiaries in 2015, by this August an additional 1500 women will be successfully completing the programme, he added. The organisation on Wednesday conducted a seminar.