KalingaTV News Network
New Delhi: In keeping with his efforts to win due recognition for the 1817 Paika Rebellion of Odisha in the history of Indian freedom struggle, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today wrote a letter to Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma to make necessary arrangements for erecting a memorial for it at Barunei Fort in Khurda district at the earliest.
Dubbing Khurda as the epicenter of the Paika Rebellion of 1817 AD, believed to be the first freedom struggle of India under the aegis of the Gajapati king of Khurda, Pradhan urged Sharma in his letter to identify a suitable place at the Barunei Fort to erect the memorial. He requested Sharma to send a Central team to Odisha for the purpose.
Notably, at the inaugural event of the 200th Year celebration of Paika Rebellion in New Delhi on July 20 this year, the PNG minister had demanded due recognition to it in the Indian freedom struggle.