Bhubaneswar, March 5: The Founder of KIIT and KISS Dr Achyuta Samanta on Sunday unveiled the statue of legendary Biju Patnaik at the KISS campus on his 107th birth anniversary.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Samanta paid his deepest respect to the towering personality who is widely admired as the architect of modern Odisha and was known for his vision and versatility.
“Today the entire state is celebrating the late leader’s birth anniversary. His contribution to the development of Odisha is immense. We are paying our respect to his life and work with the unveiling of this statue,” the Founder said.
Dr. Samanta said that Biju Patnaik had a cherished dream of tribal and women empowerment and offering education here in Bhubaneswar. “We have fulfilled his desire with the establishment of KISS to provide education to the tribal students”.
Dr Samanta also spoke about the newly inaugurated Biju Patnaik Indoor Stadium at the KIIT campus which was recently inaugurated by his son and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. A Chair in the name of Biju Patnaik has also been set up and it is conducting various research activities, he said.
The Biju Patnaik statue has been set up at the main KISS campus along with other great personalities such as Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Gopabandhu Das, Madhusudan Das, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and others.
Among others present on the occasion were Director of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata Himanshu Khatua; Secretary KIIT & KISS R. N. Dash, KIIT DU VC Prof. Sasmita samanta; KISS DU VC Prof. Deepak Behera; KIIT International Relations DG Debraj Pradhan; KISS DG Dr. Kanhu Ch. Mahali; KIMS-Bhubaneswar Principal, Dr. Ambika prasad Mohanty, and professors of different Chairs of KISS.
