BHUBANESWAR/NEW DELHI: On Thursday, President Droupadi Murmu will open Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi to celebrate Utkal Keshari Dr. Harekrushna Mahtab’s 125th birthday. The event will also be attended by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who is now on a four-day tour of Singapore.
The session will also feature participation from Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Sekhawat.
There will be a unique coin and stamp issued in Dr. Mahtab’s honor. A monograph in Odia and translations into Hindi and English of “Gaan Majlis,” a well-liked column by Dr. Mahtab in the Odia daily “Prajatantra,” have been prepared by Sahitya Akademi, an independent organization under the Ministry of Culture, and will be released during the event.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Ministry of Culture formed a 24-member high-level committee to commemorate Dr Mahtab’s 125th birth anniversary.
Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah chairs the committee, which comprises Pradhan, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Sekhawat, and CM Majhi as ex-officio members. The other ex-officio members are Cuttack MP Mahatab, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library Nripendra Misra, Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, and Union I&B Secretary Sanjay Jaju, with Union Culture Secretary Arunish Chawla serving as member secretary.
PMO Sanjeev Sanyal, chairman of the National Monuments Authority Kishore K. Basa, vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Alok Rai, former chief secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, former IRS officer Siddhartha Pradhan, and former diplomat Lalit Mansingh are all members of the Economic Advisory Council. The other members include former minister Amar Satpathy, senior BJP politician Swapan Dasgupta, and state BJP president Manmohan Samal.
The committee also includes renowned Odia authors Tarun Kanti Mishra, Gourahari Das, Haraprasad Das, Rajendra Kishore Panda, and Pratibha Ray. The committee’s mandate is to establish policies, rules, and guidance for creating programs for Mahtab Jayanti celebrations.