IITian quits salaried job to contest panchayat election in Odisha

You may believe it or not, an IITian has quit a coveted salaried job to contest the panchayat election in Odisha. For 50-year-old IIT Kharagpur alumnus, Nihar Ranjan Beura, who is looking to transform the life of the villagers, it’s a sort of homecoming.

He has filed the nomination papers for the member of panchayat samity from his native Dumuka gram panchayat in Kendrapara. “I have earned money and fame. There is a general perception that people only get involved in politics and fight elections to earn money. But I have pledged to prove this wrong,” Beura said.

“Unless honest and educated people enter politics, the same corrupt system will continue. We are hoping that Beura will usher in a refreshing change. We have elected representatives in the past. But they have simply siphoned off development grants. As a result, our village continues to lag behind,” said Sushant Kumar Jena, a villager.

Beura said: “Dumuka is where I was born and brought up. The time has come now to give back to my ancestral village.”

He said: “Despite generous flow of government funds, my village has failed to march in the path of progress. This is why I have made up my mind to contest. If people elect me, I will try my best to give a facelift to the agricultural economy of the gram panchayat.”

After graduating from the village primary school, Beura went to Marshaghai High School. He completed intermediate science from Kendrapra College and then went on to do his MTech in industrial engineering and management from IIT, Kharagapur.

Beura has worked with corporate multinational companies in US, Germany, UK, France, the Netherlands and Denmark. He has also set up a dairy farm at his village in Kendrapara district from where people can buy pure milk at a cheaper rate than the market price. The farm has 32 hybrid high-yield cows and is run on a no-loss-no-profit basis. A career-counselling institute set up by him is also attracting local youths.

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