Report by Kishore Dash & Deba Prasad Dash; Malkangiri: ON Wednesday, a gesture by the district administration, particularly the Collector Balwant Singh  proved thatnDiwali is all about giving and spreading happiness. They decided to celebrate Diwali with a purpose and organized common 'diwali' at the 'Nav Prabhat' premises to greet children, their parents ,relatives and shower them with goodies.

Said to be the brainchild of Collector Balwant Singh ands first of its kind in the state, Nav Prabhat is an orphanage and adoption home run by the district administration where about 300 tribal orphan boys & girls from the remote areas of Kudmulgumma,Khairput,Mathili and Korukonda blocks of the district have been housed to provide them quality education to them.

It was a special and unique occasion for inmates of the 'Nav Prabhat' as they celebrated the festival of lights – Deepavali – with Collector Balwant Singh, S.P Anirudha Singh and a number of invitees drawn from various walks of life on Wednesday.

The Collector, in his speech, exhorted people to help those in need. "It is rare to find opportunities to help the needy. One needs to utilise the opportunities to help people. These orphan kids  have been marginalised by the society and we should come forward to help them," he noted.

It turned out to be a festive occasion worth remembering for a lifetime for the inmates of the orphanage and their parents & relatives who were brought to the district headquarter town to celebrate the common diwali alog with their wards. Cultural extravaganza was the major attraction of the celebration. At the closing of the ceremony, the inmates celebrated Diwali with the invitees. 

Had my son and nephew been not come to Malkangiri to read here ,it would have been not possible in part to visit the district headquarter town today, said a relative of a orphan inmate. Visiting Malkangiri Town was a dream for me, said the parents of a orphan kid who had come all the way  from Andrahal in Bonda Hill of Khairput Block.

[These OrissaDiary Correspodents can be reached at kkdash08@hotmail.com & dpdash08@gmail.com respectively.]