Bhawanipatna (29 September 2018) : The second day of Kalahandi Dialogue explored several dimension of lived experience and discussed ways and means to make life better in societies like that of Kalahandi, Odisha, India and around the world.
The first session “Humans of Kalahandi: Grassroots Conversations”, had several young and adult Kalahandias who have suffered due to poverty, lack of awareness and also of lack of support. The moderator Shri Liby Johnson, Executive Director of Gram Vikash brought the beauty and tragedy of lived experiences by presenting 7 people and 5 stories from Thuamul Rampur Block of Kalahandi District.
The second session focused on achieving the SDGs in South Asia and interrogated on the key policy priorities and implementation challenges in the region. Barun Mitra, Founder & Director, Liberty Institute, Achyut Luitel, Director, Practical Action, Nepal, Shri Ghanashyam Tiwari, Spokesperson, SP and Parth Shah, the founder director of Centre for Civil Society, New Delhi participated.
The third session focused on the role of art, culture and history in social development. Mr. Prashanta Nanda, Hon’ble MP Rajya Sabha and Actor, Director & Writer of Odia Film Industry, Dr. Fanindam Singhdeo, Historian & Writer, Khariar, Dr. Gyanesh Mishra, Renowned Sculptor, Painter & Potter, Mr. Satya Narayan Singh, Member, OSNA, Mr. Satya Narayan Mundchinna, Principal, Maa Manikeswari (Junior) Mahavidyalaya, Thuamul Rampur, Mr. Satya Narayan Sahu, Press Secretary to former President of India, His Excellency K R Narayanan, Mr. J. Sai Deepak, Founder Law Chambers, Mr. Umesh Satapathy, Teacher, Orator & Dramatist, Dr. Baba Mishra, Principal, Govt. College, Bhawanipatna and Mr. Shankhajeet De, Researcher & Documentary Filmmaker were the panelists. The panelist deliberated on the importance of art, culture and history and agreed on the important role it plays in creating harmony in the society.
The fourth session deliberated upon development while fighting Climate Change. The panel presented an assessment on how best we have performed and what is the best way forward.
Dr. Markus Wiencke, Co-founder & CEO, Bluebilities, Dr. Anish Andheria, President, Wildlife Conservation Trust, Mr. Ranjan Panda, Convener, Water Initiatives Odisha & Combat Climate Change Network and Mr. Akshaya Kumar Biswal, Regional Manager, Oxfam India & Chairperson Odisha Inter Agency Group participated in the panel.
The fourth parallel session was on interrogating women empowerment. Ms. Namita Rani Sahu, President Zilla Parishad, Ms. Tilottama Nayak, Member, State Commission for Women (SCW), Odisha, Ms. Snehanjali Mohanty, Member, State Commission for Women (SCW), Odisha, Ms. Rukmini Panda, Programme Officer- Gender Justice, Oxfam India, Ms. Aradhana Nanda, Chief Functionary, Friends Association for Rural Reconstruction (FARR) and popular Television personality Ms. Shobhana Mishra participated in the panel.
The session on Social Innovations explored how disruptive innovation is creating new superheroes. Mr. Goutam Ghosh, Managing Partner, SandBoxGlobal Advisory Group, Prof. Diptiranjan Mahapatra, IIM, Sambalpur, Mr. Barada Prasad Panigrahy, Asst. Professor, Sri Sri University, Ms. Surekha Routray, Manager, Social Incubation, KIIT-TBI, Dr. Bijay Kumar Sahu, Head (IPR), NRDC & UN-WIPO Innovation Centre, Visakhapatnam, Mr. Pranab K. Pani, Managing Director Talendeate beyond Border Private Limite (P) Ltd. and Mr. Samarendra Sahoo, Director, IED, Government of Odisha.
The session on Access to Justice deliberated on how to put the power of law in the hands of people. Prof. Srikrishna Deva Rao, Vice-Chancellor, National Law University Odisha, Ms. Kanan Dhru, Founder, Lawtoons & LawForMe, Mr. Mohd Tarique, Asst. Professor, TISS, Mumbai, Mr. Laxminarayan Nanda, Child Protection Specialist, UNICEF and Mr. Daitari Pradhan, Senior Advocate, Kalahandi Bar Association participated in the panel.
The final session was to find out the voices of the youth in the development policies. Dr. Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan, Asst. Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Mr. Sasanka Kumar Padhi, Former State Programme Manager at Save the Children India, BRB, Mr. Keerti Bhusan Pradhan, Prof. & Head Healthcare Management Program & Development Expert, Mr. Anam Naik, MLA, Bhawanipatna, Mr. Shantanu Gupta, Indian Author & Political Analyst, Mr. Ghanshyam Tiwari, National Spokesperson of Samajwadi Party & Founder of Learner. in, a K12 learning platform, Mr. Shrikant Wad, Research Associate (Education Policy), IIM Ahmedabad and Mr. Sankalp Shukla, Chairman, India Youth Foundation & Founder, Gram Abhiyan participated in the panel.
It should be noted that Kalahandi Dialogue has been organized by Kalinga Kusum in collaboration with several civil society organizations and Government of Odisha and Government of India to celebrate Kalahandi’s spirit of hope and resilience.
Prasanta Patnaik