BHUBANESWAR: Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy on Monday felicitated Public Relation Officer Umakanta Mohapatra for his research work on the role of civil society, particularly voluntary organisations in rural development.
Tripathy said such creativity will add to professional proficiency of voluntary organisations in creating developmental awareness among the masses.
Mohapatra’s thesis entitled ‘Role of Voluntary Organisations in Rural Development: An Empirical Assessment’ has been notified for award of Ph.D degree by KIIT University.
Mohapatra did his research under the guidance of Prof Navneeta Rath of Utkal University and Dr Sucheta Priyabadini of KIIT University.
In his thesis, Mohapatra established that organised voluntarism at community and State level existed in Odisha right from 3rd Century BC.
Unlike other parts of India, Odisha voluntarism was based on socio-patriotic issues like protection of motherland from aggression, community action for mitigating the effects of natural calamities, developing Odia literature and breaking the caste taboos in matters of sacred text were the guiding impulses of voluntary action.