Pratap Chandra Sarangi

Pratap Chandra Sarangi
ପ୍ରତାପ ଚନ୍ଦ୍ର ଷଡ଼ଙ୍ଗୀ
Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Incumbent
Assumed office 31 May 2019
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Minister of State for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries
Incumbent
Assumed office 31 May 2019
Prime Minister	Narendra Modi
Member of Parliament for Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 May 2019
Preceded by	Rabindra Kumar Jena
Constituency	Balasore
Member of Odisha Legislative Assembly
In office 2004–2014
Preceded by	Pradipta Panda
Succeeded by	Sukanta Kumar Nayak
Constituency	Nilagiri
Personal details
Born	(1955-01-04) 4 January 1955 Gopinathpur, Odisha, India
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party
Alma mater	Utkal University

Pratap Chandra Sarangi (Odia: ପ୍ରତାପ ଚନ୍ଦ୍ର ଷଡ଼ଙ୍ଗୀ; born 4 January 1955), is a Minister of State in the Government of India for Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. He is a Politician from Balasore, Odisha and serves as a National Executive member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He had been elected as Member of the Odisha Legislative Assembly, two times: from 2004 to 2009 and from 2009 to 2014, both times from Nilagiri constituency. He revolutionalised primary education in rural areas through the innovative concept of community funded Ekal Vidyalaya or single teacher schools.

Early life and education

Pratap Sarangi was born on 4 January 1955 in the village of Gopinathpur, Nilagiri, Balasore. He completed his bachelor's degree at Fakir Mohan College, Balasore under Utkal university in 1975.

Since his childhood, Sarangi was a spiritual seeker. He wanted to become a monk of the Ramakrishna Math. He made several visits to Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Order in Howrah, West Bengal. The monks of the Math discussed with Sarangi about his desire and examined his biodata. They came to know that Sarangi's widowed mother was alive. They insisted that he should go back and serve her. After his return to his village, he became involved in various social activities.

Career

Initially, Sarangi served as a district level volunteer of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He opened schools for the poor called Samar Kara Kendra, under the Gana Shikhsa Mandir Yojana in tribal villages in Balasore and Mayurbhanj District also spending the major portion of his MLA pension to support the education of poor children in his area..

He also contested in the 2014 Indian general election from Balasore, Lok Sabha constituency as a BJP candidate, which he lost. He contested again in the 2019 Indian general election from Balasore, Lok Sabha constituency as a BJP candidate, in which he defeated the Biju Janata Dal candidate and sitting MP, Rabindra Kumar Jena, by a margin of 12,956 votes.

In May 2019, Sarangi became Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.

Criminal cases

In 1999 Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines and his two children were burnt to death whilst sleeping in their station wagon in the village of Manoharpur-Keonjhar in Odisha, allegedly by a gang of Bajrang Dal. Pratap Sarangi was the chief of the Bajrang Dal during the year 1999. After the trial, a man named Dara Singh who had links to the group, and 12 others were convicted of the crime in 2003. Pratap denied the fact saying that the investigation was not done in an unbiased and proper way. The high court in Orissa commuted a death sentence for Singh two years later and freed 11 others who were sentenced to life-term prison citing no evidence against the accused, including Pratap Sarangi. He was also arrested on charges of rioting, arson, assault and damaging government property after a 2002 attack on the Orissa state assembly by Hindu rightwing groups, including the Bajrang Dal.

See also

• Ekal Vidyalaya
• Bajrang Dal
• Graham Staines
• Ashok Kumar Sarangi