Millet Mission Odisha wins two SKOCH Awards

The Special Programme for Promotion of Millets in Tribal Areas (Millet Mission Odisha) has won the SKOCH Award 2017 - Silver, and the SKOCH Order-of-Merit. These were conferred at the 50th SKOCH summit held at Constitution Club of India, New Delhi, 20-21 December 2017.

Millet Mission Delegates with SKOCH Order-of-Merit Award at Constitution Club of India, 20 December 2017.
Left to Right: Ms Diptimayee Jena, Dr Chitta Ranjan Das, Mr Pankaj Kumar, Mr Rameswar Mirdha, Prof Srijit Mishra, Mr Sadananda Majhi, Mr Ramani Ranjan Nayak, Ms Rashmi Rekha Samal.

The SKOCH Order-of-Merit was conferred to the Millet Mission Odisha for being among the top 30 Transformational Innovation Projects in India. From among these, Millet Mission Odisha was selected and conferred the SKOCH Award 2017 - Silver at the concluding session of the 50th SKOCH summit. The selection for these awards went through a rigorous process: scrutiny of application, jury evaluation based on presentation, on-line voting, and experts opinion plus delegates voting at the Summit.

SKOCH Award 2017 - Silver conferred to Special Programme for Promotion of Millets in Tribal Areas being received by Prof Srijit Mishra, Director, NCDS on 21 December 2017, Mavlankar Sabhagrih, Constitution Club of India, New Delhi.
Left to Right: Mrs. Manisha Kochhar, Mrs Pratibha Phatak, Dr Gursharan Dhanjal, Dr. DB Phatak, Mr. NK singh,
Mr. Sameer Kochhar, Dr. M Ramachandran, Prof.Srijit Mishra, Prof. VN Alok, Mr. Rohan Kochhar, Mr. Nirmal Bansal.

The innovation for the Programme lies in the institutional architecture where Government of Odisha (through Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment under the aegis of Planning and Convergence Department), Civil Society (led by Watershed Support Services Network (WASSAN) as Programme Secretariat) and Academia (Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies (NCDS) as State Secretariat) have come together to complement and supplement each other for a people-centric initiative to facilitate nutrition security and address climate resilience.

In this endeavour, Government, Civil Society and Academia have come together from day one starting from conception, to planning, to preparing guidelines, to implementation. The institutional architecture has been designed to draw upon the advantages of each entity, but also by providing space for flexibility that is required for a collective endeavour and to address emerging concerns.

To address the demand versus supply mismatch (or Chicken-Egg paradox), a framework with concurrent emphasis on production, consumption, processing, and marketing has been designed

The implementation of the programme brings together science and tradition. The knowledge of improved agronomic practices (line transplantation and system of root intensification) and use of suitable equipment (for instance, weeder) was superimposed on the understanding of local biodiversity and existing agricultural practices.

In its first year of implementation (Khari 2017), the programme is operational in 28 blocks across seven districts (Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nuapada, and Rayagada) and  Millet production has been taken up in 7,444 acres by 13,457 farmers. The Project Director, Agricultural Technology Management Agency (PD, ATMA) is the nodal agency at the district level who along with the Programme Secretariat work at each block with the Facilitating Agencies (FAs) to implement the programme through the Community Based Organisations (CBOs). The crop cutting experiments have been promising with yield measured at 4-8 quintals/acre for line transplantation and at 6.5 to 14 quintals/acre for system of root intensification. The Government of Odisha is planning to extend the programme to 27 additional blocks in Kharif 2018.

Initiatives are being taken for pilot inclusion of millets in State Nutrition Programmes (SNPs - Anganwadi's, Mid-day Meals and Ashram Schools) and linking them to the Public Distribution System (PDS). An urban internship has been launched to spread knowledge on the health benefits, create awareness on contemporary as also traditional recipes, and provide a market for the produce.

Millet Mission Odisha will be an important partner in the initiative on National Nutrition Mission and in spirit is with the Government of India's call to the United Nations to make 2018 as the International Year of Millets.

The application for consideration of SKOCH Innovation Award 2017 was submitted by NCDS the State Secretariat for the Mission. The Director of NCDS, Professor Srijit Mishra who is also spearheading the activities of the State Secretariat had made the presentation for jury evaluation in November 2017. He has received the two awards at the 50th SKOCH summit on behalf of all the stakeholders of Millet Mission Odisha.

See two earlier related blogs

Millet Mission at 50th SKOCH summit

Millet Mission Nominated for SKOCH Award

Millet Mission Odisha Nominated for Skoch Award

Kudos!

Millet Mission Odisha (Special Programme for Promotion of Millets in Tribal Areas) has been nominated for Skoch Awards. In this connection, a presentation (see SlideShare, and video in Facebook from 24 minutes onwards) was made before the jury on 9th November 2017.  It is now open for popular voting through twitter and votes will be polled till 1700 hours of 18th November 2017.  You are requested to vote for your Millet Mission with ID_106.

Unique Features of the Mission

• The setting up of an Institutional Architecture that brought together three pillars of progress - Government (Krushibibhag and P&C Department, Odisha), Civil Society (WASSAN and a host of other partners) and Academia (NCDS, an ICSSR institute) from Day One.
• It addressed the Chicken-Egg paradox of who comes first by agreeing on a framework with concurrent emphasis on four verticals - production, consumption, processing, and marketing.
• It brought together science and tradition. The knowledge of improved agronomic practices and use of suitable equipment was superimposed on the understanding of local biodiversity and existing agricultural practices.
• Initiatives are being taken to pilot inclusion of millets in State Nutrition Programmes (SNPs) like Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), school Mid-Day-Meals (MDMs), and Ashram Schools and also for its procurement through the Public Distribution System (PDS).

Challenges

• The concerns before the government was:
• to select credible Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) as Civil Society partners to work as facilitating agencies at the block level, 
• to ensure replicability of the programme, and 
• to build ownership within the department.
• The concerns of Programme Secretariat, WASSAN, was 
• to address the delay in the signing of agreements with the facilitating agencies, 
• to ensure capacity building and orientation of community based organisations, 
• to facilitate timely release of funds, and 
• to conduct regular review.
• NCDS had to address the requirement of 
• real-time policy feedback, 
• exploring collaboration with others, and 
• developing a baseline.

Strategies

• The Government addressed the concerns by
• instituting a three-level selection process (evaluation of applications on pre-determined parameters, presentations before Officials under the Chairmanship of the Collector-cum-District Magistrate, and verification of claims through field visits),
• meticulous development of guidelines, and 
• regular involvement of senior bureaucrats and participatory orientation. 
• The Programme Secretariat addressed the challenges by
• active follow-up on a daily basis,
• involving the facilitating agencies in selection, orientation and capacity building of community based organisations,
• helping in the preparation of documents including the monthly participatory implementation plans, and
• working in close coordination wit the Department officials and ownership by the officials that facilitated regular review.  
• NCDS addressed its requirement by
• regular state/district level consultations and providing feedback through channels that are conventionally not considered academic,
• exploring collaboration with other academic bodies and networks, and
• developing a participatory baseline.

Scaleability and Replicability

The emphasis was given at the design stage to work out the details in the guidelines for implementation at the block, district and state level. Besides, the strengths of Government, Civil Society and Academia were identified to complement and supplement each other to facilitate nutritional security and climate resilience.

Response to the programme in its first year has been positive and the Government, in principle, has agreed to extend the scheme to another 25 blocks. Moreover, the design of the programme has been been such that the additional 25 blocks are now to be considered under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).

Independently, there are queries and/or talks with Governments in Rajasthan and Maharashtra as also Civil Society groups in Chattisgarh and Jharkhand, and also Government of India.

There are also plans to converge this programme with other programmes of Integrated Farming and Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY).    

Why you should vote?

This is one of the rare initiatives where Government, Civil Society and Academia have come together to address nutrition security and climate resilience. 

This is also a rare opportunity for an initiative from an ICSSR institute to be nominated. Thus, social scientist should feel that extra urge, but scientist should also see the merit because the proposed intervention for academia goes beyond social science.

The intervention is working through a convergence mode, both within and between, for all stakeholders. As such, it is possible that you also end up being a part of this initiative.

It is likely to bring in a sense of pride in you (perhaps because you appreciate this innovative initiative or you have some nostalgia with Millets or you empathise with traditional/sustainable agriculture  or you happen to be from Odisha or for something that is beyond all these), and hence, you need to support.

How you can vote?  

Voting is possible either through a twitter account or through your email. You may open a twitter account if you do not have one. To vote, follow the following steps:

• Go to the link at skoch.tk/voting. To register enter your name, agree to the Terms and Conditions and click on the Confirm button.
• Sign in using either your twitter account (use twitter user_id and password and allow Skoch access to your twitter account, you can remove the access at a later date) or email (first create and account by providing your email id, phone no and a password - note that this password need not be your email password).
• Signing-in will take you to Skoch 50th Summit Popular Vote. Scroll to the right and click on View Nominations.
• From the 157 nominations, scroll down to ID/Sl.No. 106 for the Special Programme for the Promotion of Millets in Tribal Areas (or Millet Mission). Scroll to the right and click on the corresponding Vote.
• You have to vote before 17.00 hours of 18 November 2017

Do vote and do share this pro people initiative.

Academic Opportunities at NCDS

Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies (NCDS)

(an ICSSR institute in collaboration with Government of Odisha)

E.mail: ncds_bbsr@dataone.in, Tel: 0674-2300471, 2301094

Academic Opportunities

Date of Advertisement: 01/May/2017

Last Date: 29/May/2017, 5.00 pm (India time)

NCDS invites applications for Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors in different disciplines/specializations.

Table 1: Academic Opportunities across Disciplines for Different Positions at NCDS
Disciplines	Positions
	Professor	Associate Professor	Assistant Professor
Development Studies or allied/relevant	1 (One) [desirable specialization - Sustainable Development {Unreserved}]	1 (One) [desirable specialization -Political Philosophy/ Political Economy, {Unreserved}]	2 (Two) [desirable specialization -Tribal/Dalit Studies, {Scheduled Tribe}], [desirable specialization -Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies {Unreserved}],
Economics or allied/relevant	1 (One) [desirable specialization - Public Policy, {Unreserved}]	1 (One) [desirable specialization - Applied Development Economics, {Unreserved}]	1 (One) [desirable specialization - Poverty and Human Development, {Unreserved}]
Anthropology/ Sociology or allied/relevant	1 (One) [desirable specialization - Sociocultural, {Unreserved}]	-	-
Population Studies/ Demography or allied/relevant		1 (One) [desirable specialization - Public Health, {Unreserved}]	-
Notes: The content in round parenthesis (...) indicates the number of vacancies in that position for that discipline in words, the content in square brackets [...] indicates the desirable specialization in that position for that concerned/allied/relevant discipline, and the content in braces {...} indicates if the post is reserved for a specific category of population as per statutory requirement mandated by reservation policy of Government of Odisha, or, is unreserved. Applicants with evidence of work on desirable specialization from core/allied/relevant disciplines can apply.  For instance, in Development Studies the work on the desirable specialization indicated may come from different social science fields while not being limited to them. Similarly, the work on the desirable specialization of Public Health may also come from some other relevant disciplines and this may hold for other desirable specializations too.

                                                            

1. Eligibility Criteria and Qualifications:

The eligibility criteria and qualifications should satisfy University Grants Commission (UGC) Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education, Regulations, 2010, and its subsequent amendments. The relevant API score (category III) of 4th amendment (at p.25-26) is applicable. Further, as permissible under UGC Regulations (see Clarification on FAQs), NCDS has additional qualifying standards as also desirable conditions without deviation from the minimum qualifications prescribed by UGC. The eligibility criteria and qualifications for Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors are elaborated below.

1.1. Professors

A.(i) An eminent scholar with PhD qualification(s) in the concerned/allied/relevant discipline and published work of high quality, actively engaged in research with evidence of published work with a minimum of 10 publications as books and/or research/policy papers.
(ii)  A minimum of ten years of teaching experience in University/College, and/or experience in research at the University/National  level Institutions/Industries (this experience of teaching/research will be at the post-PhD level equivalent to that of Assistant/Associate Professor of which it would desirable if at least two years should be equivalent to that of Reader/Assistant Professor stage III/Associate Professor), including experience of guiding candidates for research at doctoral level (evidence of at least two candidates having successfully obtained PhD degree under the guidance of the applicant is to be submitted with the application). 
(iii) Contribution to educational innovation, design of new curricula and courses, and technology – mediated teaching learning process.
(iv) A minimum score of 400 points as stipulated in Academic Performance Indicator (API) based Performance Based Appraisal System (PBAS) in category III  as per 4th Amendment (at pp.25-26) to relevant section from UGC Regulations of 2010. An API score proforma (attached to the application form to help the applicant provide verifiable self-assessment based API scores) along with a curriculum vitae that provides all the information used to compute the API score and all relevant self-attested documents to validate the same should be submitted with the application form.

(v) The minimum of 10 publications indicated under [1.1. A. (i)] above should count towards her/his API score indicated under [1.1 A. (iv)] above. Further, from these 10 publications, at least five should be refereed publications from the concerned/allied/relevant discipline/specialization in the UGC specified Journal list notified on 13 April 2017. The applicant should also submit copies of these five refereed journal articles with the application.

(vi) Evidence of being the Project Director/Principal Investigator/Team Leader for at least one research project at the national level, or, as one of the team members for a research project at an international level. 

(vii) It would be desirable if the candidate would have received fellowships and awards from national/international bodies at a post-PhD level.

OR

B. An outstanding professional with established reputation in the relevant field, who has made significant contributions to the knowledge in the concerned/allied/relevant discipline/specialization, to be substantiated by credentials.

1.2.  Associate Professor

(i)     Good academic record with a PhD Degree in the concerned/allied/relevant disciplines.

(ii)   A Master’s Degree with at least 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed).

(iii) A minimum of eight years of experience of teaching and/or research in an academic/research position equivalent to that of Assistant Professor in a University, College or Accredited Research Institution/Industry excluding the period of PhD research with evidence of published work and a minimum of eight publications as books and/or research/policy papers.

(iv) Contribution to educational innovation, design of new curricula and courses, and technology-mediated teaching learning process with evidence of having guided doctoral candidates and research students (evidence of at least one candidate having successfully obtained PhD under the guidance of the applicant is to be submitted with the application).

(v)    A minimum score of 300 points as stipulated in the Academic Performance Indicator (API) based Performance Based Appraisal System (PBAS), in category III as per 4th Amendment (at pp.25-26) to relevant section from UGC Regulations of 2010. An API score proforma (attached to the application form to help the applicant provide verifiable self-assessment based API scores) along with a curriculum vitae that provides all the information used to compute the API score and all relevant self-attested documents to validate the same should be submitted with the application form.

(vi) The minimum of eight publications indicated under [1.2. (iii)] above should count towards her/his API score indicated under [1.2. (v)] above. Further, from these eight publications, at least four should be refereed publications from the concerned/allied/relevant discipline/specialization in the UGC specified Journal list notified on 13 April 2017. The applicant should also submit copies of these four refereed journal articles along with the application.

(vii) It would be desirable if the candidate would have received fellowships and awards from national/international bodies at a post-PhD level.

1.3. Assistant Professor

(i) Good academic record with at least 55% of the marks (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed) at the Master’s Degree level in a relevant subject from an Indian University or an equivalent degree from an accredited foreign University. However, relaxation of 5% marks, that is, from 55% to 50% is allowed for candidates having PhD degree and those who passed their Master Degree prior to 19 September 1991.

(ii) Besides fulfilling the above qualifications, the candidate must have cleared in the concerned/allied/relevant subject/discipline the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the UGC, CSIR or similar test accredited by the UGC like SLET/SET.

(iii) Notwithstanding anything contained in [1.3. (i)] and [1.3. (ii)], candidates, who are, or have been registered for their PhD after 11 July 2009 to 04 May 2016 and have been awarded a PhD Degree from an Indian University in accordance with the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards for the Awards of PhD Degree) Regulation, 2009, and so adopted by the concerned university, shall be exempted from the requirement of NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor. Provided further, the award of PhD degree to candidates registered for the PhD programme in India prior to 11 July 2009  shall be exempted from the requirement of NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor subject to the fulfilment of the following conditions: (a) Ph.D. degree of the candidate awarded in regular mode only; (b) Evaluation of the PhD thesis by at least two external examiners; (c) Open PhD viva voce of the candidate had been conducted; (d) Candidate has published two research papers from her/his PhD work out of which at least one must be in a refereed journal; e) Candidate has made at least two presentations in conferences/seminars, based on her/his PhD work. And, (a) to (e) as above are to be certified by the Vice-Chancellor/Pro-Vice-Chancellor/Dean (Academic Affairs)/Dean (University instructions). In addition, candidates who have been registered for their PhD on or after 05 May 2016 and have been awarded a PhD Degree from an Indian University in accordance with the UGC (Minimum Standards for the Award of PhD Degree) Regulations, 2016, and so adopted by the concerned university, shall be exempted from the requirement of NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor. Besides, PhDs from accredited foreign universities would also be exempted from the requirement of NET/SET/SLET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor.

(iv) A relaxation of 5% may be provided at the Graduate and Master’s level for the Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST)/Differently-abled (Physically and Visually differently-abled)  categories for the purpose of eligibility of educational qualification and for assessing good academic record during direct recruitment to teaching positions. The eligibility marks of 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed) and the relaxation of 5% to the categories mentioned above are permissible, based on only the qualifying marks without including any grace mark procedures. Rounding off of marks to make it to 55% or 5% is not permissible.

(v) A minimum of one refereed publication from the concerned/allied/relevant discipline/specialization in the UGC specified Journal list notified on 13 April 2017. The applicant should also submit a copy of this refereed journal article along with the application. If the applicant so desires, she/he can also submit two additional refereed publications along with the application.

2. Other Conditions

2.1. Evidence of research, teaching and other engagements in the specialization indicated will be desirable. These should be evident from the selected publications submitted, the statement of purpose, and other details provided in the application.

2.2. Applicants desirous of applying to multiple positions should submit separate applications for each position.

2.3. The application form duly filled in by the candidate must be supported by self-attested copies of all required documents.

2.4. NCDS may request soft copies of some of the documents at a later date.

2.5. Applications received incomplete in any respect are liable to be summarily rejected and no correspondence on that score shall be entertained.

2.6. Applications received after the last date will not be considered.

2.7. Merely fulfilling the minimum qualification does not entitle a candidate to be necessarily considered or shortlisted for the subsequent stages of the selection process, or, if considered or shortlisted for the subsequent stages it does not entitle a candidate to be necessarily selected to the position.

2.8. No deputation allowances shall be paid.

2.9. No Travelling Allowance (TA) or Dearness Allowance (DA) will be paid to attend the different stages of the selection procedure or to join at NCDS after selection.

2.10. Canvassing in any form by or on behalf of the applicants will be considered as disqualification.

2.11. Applicants who are not Indian citizens will have to satisfy additional requirements by Government of India/Government of Odisha and subject to other rules and regulations, as mandated by law, if selected.

2.12. NCDS reserves the right to not fill up any of the vacancies advertised if the circumstances so warrant.

2.13. Notwithstanding, anything mentioned above, NCDS reserves the right to reject any or all the applications received without assigning any reason thereof.

2.14. The applicants are required to deposit a non-refundable application fee of Rs.1000/-(Rupees one thousand) only either through National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) to (Account No.450501110050004, IFS Code: UBIN 0562602) and submit necessary proof or by Demand Draft/crossed Account Payee cheque of  any nationalized bank in favour of “Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies” payable at Bhubaneswar. For reserved posts candidates are required to deposit a non-refundable application fee of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five hundred) only. Hard copies of application forms not submitted before the deadline and not enclosed with requisite application fee or its proof  will be summarily rejected. 

3. Salary

Table 2: Scale of Pay across Different Positions at NCDS
Positions	Scale of Pay + Academic Grade Pay (AGP)
Professor	Rs.37,400-Rs.67,000/- + AGP Rs.10,000/-
Associate Professor	Rs.37,400-Rs.67,000/- + AGP Rs.9,000/-
Assistant Professor	Rs.15,600-Rs.39,100/- + AGP Rs.6,000/-
Note: Dearness Allowance (DA), House Rent Allowance (HRA) and other allowances are admissible as per NCDS rules.

4.  Age of Superannuation: 60 Years

5. Application Procedure

5.1. Application form may be downloaded from NCDS website http://ncds.nic.in at Opportunities and the duly filled in form send to Secretary, Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies, Bhubaneswar-751013 by Speed Post/Registered Post so as to reach by 29/May/2017 before 5.00 pm (1700 hours), India time. The institute will not be responsible for any delay in receipt of applications.

5.2. The envelope containing application should indicate "Application for [Position applied for] in [Discipline/Specialization]".

5.3. The last date for receipt of application form complete in all respect is 29/May/2017 before 5.00 pm (1700 hours), India time.

5.4. Forwarding of application by the employer (if employed) to be received on or before the date interview.

5.5. Applicants who are in service can send their applications as advance copy.

6. Checklist of Documents to be Submitted by the Applicant

6.1. Filled in application form with relevant self-attested documentary evidence.

6.2. A five-hundred word 'statement of purpose' conveying why the applicant is the best suitable for the position applied for and also briefly explaining the plans/activities that the applicant would like to take up, if selected (format included, as part of the application form).

6.3. For Professors and Associate Professors only: API score in category III as per 4th Amendment (at pp.25-26) to relevant section from UGC Regulations of 2010 with relevant self-attested documentary evidence. An API score proforma to help the applicant provide verifiable self-assessment based API scores along with necessary pages from the 4th Amendment is attached to the application form.

6.4. A curriculum vitae providing details of research publications, research projects, fellowships/awards, invited lectures/papers in seminars/conferences, and any other academic activities. This can be used by applicants for the position of Professors and Associate Professors to provide all the information used to compute their API score in category III as per 4th Amendment.
6.5. Applicants should submit discipline/specialization-specific selected refereed publications: five for Professor, four for Associate Professor and one for Assistant Professor. The applicant for Assistant Professor can submit two additional refereed publications if she/he so desires.
6.6. Non-refundable application fee by Demand Draft/Crossed Account Payee Cheque or proof of payment by NEFT.

Link to Short Advertisement in PDF, in the Samaj, TNIE.

Link to Detailed Advertisement in PDF

Link to Application Form in PDF
Link to Application Form in Word 

Sakti Padhi Sir...

The mail from Professor KJ Joseph - I still do not know how to react.
Professor Sakti Padhi was one of my M.Phil. supervisors at the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram, a senior colleague at the Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies (NCDS), Bhubaneswar, where he went on to be the director. He has been a friend, philosopher and guide to me and this is indeed a great personal loss.

I landed in Trivandrum for Mphil just a few days after Professor Padhi and family had left and so lost the opportunity of attending his lectures; but heard a lot about his scholarship, humility and hospitality. When I decided to take up a field-based study on tribal Orissa, my supervisor (Professor GN Rao) suggested that I meet him. A number of meetings at NCDS and at their residence near Ravenshaw College followed. In contrast to people who are keen to have more students working under them, he advised me to take someone based in CDS as my second supervisor. However, finally I was lucky that he agreed. Those were the days of the snail mail and he sent his comments by post. I had the fortune of having more interactions with him during my field survey (for my PhD) spread across eight months. His questions, remarks and comments were incisive and very helpful.

Later when I joined NCDS, as colleagues, we got the opportunity to interact closely on the Orissa part of the Macroeconomic Adjustment Policies (MAP)-Health Project. He enthusiastically joined me on all the field visits even during the super cyclone. I remember, on one such visit, a discussion on trust came up. He had said - "we should always begin with trust, as there is no obvious reason to begin otherwise." This is a big lesson in a people-centric approach, which is not at all present in many discourses today. Professor Padhi's capacity to explain tables was remarkable and the way he would weave a story linking different facts was brilliant.

On near completion of the project, both of us went to Trivandrum for a workshop/seminar organised at Kovalam to cater to the international participants. I had vested interest in staying on campus with Professor GN Rao, now my in-laws. He also chose to stay back on campus and I had the good fortune to join him to Chettikunnu to visit Professor Raj. On our return, Professor Raj wrote a personal letter in a post card where he indicated that he should be calling him Sakti (not Padhi unlike the way everyone does in CDS). This was a very touching letter reflecting the personal bond between the teacher-student duo.

For Nandini, my wife, who grew up on CDS campus, Professor Padhi and Sadhana had been more than family. When she was new to Odisha, they made her feel at home in the completely new place, new culture and new people. They were her maternal family. The last time we met him at his office, he was very thrilled to meet Nerika. Excitedly he kept saying, she brought back his memories of CDS days, because, Nerika reminded him of little Nandini. Our heartfelt condolences to Sadhana (who is nani, elder sister, to me and aunty to Nandini) and Rohit.