BHUBANESWAR: The first Biswa Odia Bhasa Sammilani will be held in the state capital in February. The conference drawing language experts from across the world will be held for three days. A decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of the heritage cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here. Minister of State for Odia Language, Literature and Culture Aswini Kumar Patra said the dates of the conference will be decided soon.
The decision to organise Biswa Odia Bhasa Sammilani was taken at a cabinet meeting held on December at Puri. Odia societies based in various countries and cities of India will be involved in the conference. The Biswa Odia Sammilani will be organised on the lines of World Kannada Meet and World Tamil Meet.
During the meet, the state government will organise exhibitions to showcase Odisha’s cultural heritage. Seminars on Odia art, culture, history, literature and other important topics will be organised and prominent experts from across the world invited to participate in the event.
Students from all schools and colleges too will be invited to attend the conference. Besides, schools and colleges will also organise programmes in their institutions during the occasion. Chief secretary PK Jena said the three-day conference will boost research in Odia language and literature. Besides, it will also further spread Odia language and its literature in the world.
Secretary of the Odia Language, Literature and Culture department Sujata Karthikeyan said the conference will involve people from all over the world who have worked on Odia language. It will primarily focus on youth and the challenges that the Odia language might face in the future, she added.