Odisha MLA Sets Example For Nation’s Youth By Ploughing Fields

Odisha MLA Sets Example For Nation’s Youth By Ploughing Fields

A video of an MLA from Odisha’s Nabarangpur district ploughing his fields in ankle-deep water has gone viral, winning praises from all quarters for his dedication to his first profession of farming.

The video of the Dabugaon legislator, Manohar Randhari, has even caught the attention of the Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu. Tweeting the video on August 19, Naidu wrote in Odia “Preranadayi” (inspirational).

The Vice President further mentioned that Randhari engages in ploughing and farming in the fields for two months every year, which should inspire the youth of the nation to follow in his footsteps.

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— Vice President of India (@VPSecretariat) August 18, 2020

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also heaped praise on the legislator in a tweet. The CM wrote that Randhari has led by example and appreciated his commitment to agriculture and for taking pride in working in the field.

Appreciate party MLA Manohar Randhari for leading by example with his commitment to agriculture and taking pride for his work in the agriculture field. https://t.co/ZwVoSNBcnr

— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) August 19, 2020

On his part, the three-time MLA feels that the government is prioritizing agriculture now and it would be great if the young generation also showed interest in farming activities. If more young people invested their learning and education and implemented newer and scientific methods in agriculture, then the nation can become self-employed and self-reliant and in the long run it will strengthen the economy, he avers.

Randhari, who has around 23 acres of farming land, ploughs the fields with the help of his bulls and plants paddy saplings along with his co-workers. The legislator has also been in the news in the past for all the right reasons. He was seen donating raincoats to people engaged in paddy plantation, chipping in as a daily labourer during road repair work and teaching school children.

While these days more and more people are shying away from the non-lucrative agricultural work, Randhari takes pride in ploughing and sowing his fields. As the recent rains have created conditions for the paddy season, he hopes to complete the transplantation of the saplings soon before the Speaker of the Assembly takes a call on convening the monsoon session.

The 45-year-old MLA has been assisting his father in farming since a very young age. After his father passed away last year, the responsibility of farming fell on his shoulders. He makes sure that he is physically present in the field for a month around August and another month in the winter during the harvest season. He makes sure that his presence in the field does not affect his work as a legislator by meeting people of his constituency in the evenings.