Odisha: Entrepreneur uses lockdown time to give village a facelift

BHUBANESWAR: A chartered accountant-turned-entrepreneur has spent his time during the lockdown in building wide roads, house for a poor family, the Bhagabata Tungi building and executed other development works by spending Rs 90 lakh in Cuttack’s Jalahari village, his native place.
Golakh Parida (45) returned to his village from Chennai, his workplace, before start of the lockdown in March. Parida, the chairman of Aurum Jewels Limited and managing director of Prince Hallmarking and Refinery Private Limited, has business in 14 states with an annual turnover of Rs 500 crore and employs 1,000 people.

Parida has built a 1.5-km-long concrete road in the village
“I had a dream to do something for my native place, but I was not getting enough time. I started planning during the lockdown when I got scope to do so. With the help of the villagers, I readied a blueprint to start many development works. I also distributed around 10,000 packets of dry food and ration in the village,” said Parida.
Parida has built a 1.5-km-long concrete road in the village with the width ranging between 20 feet and 40 feet at different places. “The road work was executed on a war footing so that it is completed in four months. Around Rs 50 lakh have been spent on the road, said Parida, father of two children.
He has completed construction of youth club house, Bhagabata Tungi (a place where people come to listen Bhagabata), recently started Laxmi Narayan temple and house for a poor family of the village. Besides other works, Parida has provided bulbs and other materials for streetlights in his village and its nearby areas and installed water booths.
And, he has personally monitored all works to ensure quality. “We are constructing the temple kitchen, open air gymnasium and garden, basketball and badminton court, mini stadium, among others,” said Parida, who has helped in the building of seven temples in the nearby villages over the years.
Dhaneswar Rout (50), a villager, said Parida is a blessing for the village and people should learn from him. “When he came to know that I was sick, he took me to Bhubaneswar and paid for the treatment,” he added.
Parida thanked the villagers, particularly the youths, for completing all works smoothly. “Though I paid the money, the villagers immensely helped me in constructing the road. It is always a difficult task to reclaim encroached land for building of roads,” he added.
Parida had completed his graduation in Salepur and MBA in Kolkata. He moved to Chennai in 1999 and opened a chartered accountant firm after completing the CA course in 2003. He also married chartered accountant Dimple Chaudhury. “Everybody should come forward to help their village grow,” he added.
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