Odisha celebrated Utkal Divas marking its 77th Foundation Day

The 77th foundation day of Odisha was celebrated across the State on 1 April 2013 with a number of government and non-government organisations organising various programmes to mark the occasion.

Utkal Divas іѕ celebrated on April 1 each year to mark the formation of Odisha state, whісh wаѕ carved out οf thе combined Bengal-Bihar-Orissa province in 1936.

The people from different walks of life paid tributes to the late leaders such as Madhusudan Das, Gopabandhu Das, Maharaja Krusha Chandra Gajapati, Fakir Mohan Senapati, and Gouri Shankar Ray who played a key role in the formation of a separate Odisha State on linguistic basis under British rule on 1 April 1936.

The Chief Minister of Orissa Naveen Patnaik addressed the State-level Odisha Divas celebrations at the Exhibition Ground of Bhubhaneshwar where he talked about the contributions made by the late leaders of the State that led to the creation of the State in 1936.

The Chief Minister also highlighted the achievements of his government and reiterated that the government was striving to ensure all-round development of the State.

The Dhamra Port authorities of Orissa organised a special programme titled Tare Zameen Par for the hearing and speech impaired and visually challenged children of Bhadrak district on the port premises.