BHUBANESWAR : Welcoming the steps announced by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to preserve the memory of Manoj Das, president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik on Wednesday proposed that a statue of the legendary writer should be installed at a central place of the Capital City and a park should be named after him.
Patnaik said chairs on Manoj Das should be established in one university each in Puducherry, Odisha and New Delhi. Besides, the Chief Minister should direct the Odisha Sahitya Akademi to publish all the works of the eminent writer. He said an international debate competition should be started in the name of Manoj Das to attract talents from across all countries.
The OPCC president, however, proposed that the international award to be named after the great writer should be open for creative writing in all Indian languages and should not be limited for Odia writers for their writing in English. Besides, an international award should be instituted for promoting writings by Indian writers of all countries. He said the award announced by the Chief Minister should be named as ‘Manoj Das national award’.