Sanjay Dhotre releases Commemorative Postage Stamp on First Visit of Mahatma Gandhi to Odisha
New Delhi: Sanjay Dhotre, Minister of State for Education, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology digitally released a Commemorative Postage Stamp on 100 Years of First Visit of Mahatma Gandhi to Odisha.
Public Function in this regard was organised at Swaraj Ashram, Cuttack, Odisha. Bhartruhari Mahtab, Member of Parliament, Cuttack, Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Minister, Odia Language, Tourism and Culture, Government of Odisha and senior officers of the department of Posts attended the function.
This Commemorative Postage Stamp celebrates an important event of Indian History which is the first visit of Mahatma Gandhi to Odisha on 23rd March, 1921. It energized the Non-Cooperation movement and strengthened the cause of freedom struggle. During the visit of Mahatma Gandhi, large section of youth participated in the movement and women folk regularly spun Charkha and propagated the use of Khadi. Clothes of foreign origin were abandoned. Such was the magical presence of Mahatma Gandhi that Odisha woke up from slumber and plunged itself in the national movement.
Dhotre while addressing the gathering said that India is celebrating “Ázaadi ka Amrit Mahotsava”. A Postage Stamp to commemorate the important event of celebrating 100 Years of first Visit of Mahatma Gandhi to Odisha is a part of this celebration. In days to come, the Department of Posts will commemorate more such significant events of India’s freedom struggle.
Dhotre also spoke about the significance of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ initiative which was launched under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that through this initiative, various states and UTs are paired with each other like Maharashtra and Odisha, Goa and Jharkhand, Delhi and Sikkim and so on. This is done so that they can exchange, learn and appreciate each other’s culture, language, literature, dance art and many other aspects. This will ultimately strengthen the bond of India as a nation.
The stamp issued today is an inspiration to youth, women, intelligentsia and common folk. The society of today may not be able to comprehend the challenges that the society had faced a hundred years ago in the colonial rule. The First Day Cover of the Commemorative Postage Stamp portrays the Swaraj Ashram at Cuttack, where Mahatma Gandhi stayed during his first visit to Odisha on 23rd March, 1921.
