Angul, Dec 28: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited Angul and participated in the “Swachh Sundar Sabuja Angul” programme at the Municipality Square. The event was organised under the Central Government’s initiative “Swachh Survekshan".

On arrival, the Minister was welcomed with a fruit basket instead of flowers. He joined the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by personally sweeping the streets along with municipal staff. During the visit, he laid the foundation stone and inaugurated 36 developmental projects worth Rs 27.63 crore in Angul.

As part of the programme, Dharmendra Pradhan also participated in a signature campaign and honoured sanitation workers by gifting them mobile phones. He paid floral tributes at the statue of Angul’s last independent king, Somanath Singh Jagdev, at Municipality Square.

The event was attended by Dhenkanal MP Rudra Narayan Pany, Angul MLA Pratap Chandra Pradhan, Chhendipada MLA Agasti Behera, Pallahara MLA Ashok Mohanty, senior BJP leader and Angul district in-charge Golak Mohapatra, along with municipal officials, councillors, district administration officers, and hundreds of local residents.


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Later, the Minister distributed fruits to children at the Bazarpada Anganwadi Centre in Ward No. 4. He reiterated his appeal to replace flowers with fruits at public functions, ensuring that fruits received are distributed among poor children in Anganwadis and government schools. This initiative, he said, helps meet the nutritional needs of malnourished children.