Bhubaneswar: Odisha which had so much crisis with poverty has much less of it now, commented eminent journalist and author Shekhar Gupta.
“I need to travel in Odisha, but I know a State which had so much crisis with poverty has much less of it now, because of many indicators Odisha is up. Very good welfare schemes were further efficiently delivered,” said Gupta in his interaction with the media on the sidelines of the Harishchandra Memorial lecture to mark the 88th birth anniversary of Harishchandra Baxipatra at the Jayadev Bhawan here.
The senior journalist said that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is not abusive and does not say negative things about people that much so other people also do not abuse him. “Well, I have known him for a very long time. He is a very friendly person and a reticent. He is also a ‘yaaron ka yaar person(friend of friends)’. He respects his friends and friendship and I think he has surprised us all with his political acumen. We never thought that he will do so well in politics but he has done brilliantly in politics,” commented Gupta on the persona of Patnaik whom he claimed to be a long-time friend.
The senior scribe described Patnaik’s patronization of hockey as a ‘national contribution’ and made Odisha a Hockey capital now. “Because hockey is a great game and unlike cricket, hockey does not generate so much money. But it is because he adopted hockey, I think it is also a clever move because hockey is not so expensive to adopt as say cricket would be. In cricket, you have to compete with BCCI and you have to bid some many billion dollars. He opined that Indian hockey has recovered not just the bronze but our women got to the last four.
“Last four for women was something that we had not thought of. And once you are in the last four anything can happen. So I am looking forward to the two world cups that will be played in Odisha now-the youth world cup and the senior FIH world cup. I think it is one of his best moves. I say that as an Indian and I say that as a hockey lover. It was national service of the highest order,” he added.
Gupta said that this all tells you how much of a contribution a medium-sized State can make. The senior scribe was here to deliver the memorial lecture organized by Harishchandra Baxipatra Smruti Committee.
