KENDRAPARA: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday praised the plumbers of Kendrapara district and said they have dominated the sanitary business in India and abroad for decades.
“Thousands of people from the district have earned their livelihoods by working as plumbers across the country and overseas. There are countless stories of plumbers from Kendrapara returning to their villages after years of hard work with considerable savings. They are role models for us,” Pradhan said.
The Union minister announced that the State Institute of Plumbing and Technology (SIPT) at Pattamundai would be upgraded to produce more highly-skilled plumbers.
Addressing a function at a private college to felicitate meritorious students, Pradhan said the Centre is promoting research, innovation, and AI-driven education rooted in the mother tongue and India’s knowledge traditions through the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The NEP aims to strengthen education by integrating Indian knowledge systems with emerging technologies.
Later in the day, Pradhan attended a meeting of BJP workers. He said the BJP’s double-engine government gives priority to the welfare of the poor, women, youths, farmers, backward classes and tribal communities. “Our party workers must strengthen the BJP by enrolling more people in the membership drive. They should continue working for the welfare of the people,” he said.
The Union minister offered prayers at the Baladevjew Temple in Kendrapara town.
Meanwhile, around 150 Congress workers staged demonstrations at various places in Kendrapara town protesting Pradhan’s visit. Carrying black flags and placards, they raised slogans of “Dharmendra Pradhan Go Back”. Police detained several Congress workers for attempting to show black flags to the Union minister.
District Congress president Debasmita Sharma said, “The Congress demands immediate resignation of Pradhan as he is responsible for institutional failures, examination paper leaks, and systemic shortcomings in the education sector, particularly the controversies surrounding the NEET-UG examination and the CBSE On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.”