Standardisation of ‘Bande Utkal Janani’ need of hour

A plea has been moved before the Orissa High Court seeking direction for the immediate release of the standard version or the official tune of the state anthem ‘Bande Utkal Janani’.

The Orissa HC directed the state government to consider a representation and have an immediate action.

The division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Gourishankar Satapathy issued the direction on a PIL filed by lawyer Kanhayalal Sharma. But the bench refused to consider Sharma’s petition as a PIL and disposed of it. Sharma moved forward after his representations to the state government yielded no result.

Sharma who is an approved music artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan,The legendary song- ‘Bande Utkal Janani’ is an ode to the land of Utkala and its people. While it was written by eminent Odia poet Kantakabi Laxmikanta Mohapatra.