Finance
In the early hours of Friday, former Odisha minister and veteran BJD leader Damodar Rout passed away in a private hospital in Bhubaneswar while undergoing treatment. He was eighty-two.
Rout’s supporters will be able to pay their final respects to the departed leader today when his body is brought to his government residence at Unit-VI in Bhubaneswar.
Rout fell seriously ill after suffering a massive heart attack on March 18 and was later declared brain dead. His death has created a vacuum in Odisha politics.
Damodar Rout was MLA for seven terms from the Erasma (five times) and Paradip (twice) Assembly constituencies from 1977 to 2019, and served as a minister in various important departments of the Odisha government.
Born to Kapil Charan Rout and Sneha Rout on July 2, 1942, Damodar Rout was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly on a Janata Party ticket for the first time in 1977. In 1980, he was elected to the Odisha Assembly on a Janata Party (Secular) ticket. In 1990, he again won the Assembly elections on the Janata Dal ticket and as a BJD candidate from 2000 to 2019.
A well-known figure in Odisha politics, Damodar had a ministerial position in the administrations of Biju Patnaik and Naveen Patnaik. From October 25, 1979, to February 2, 1980, he served as the Minister of Information and Public Relations. Later, from 1993 to 1995, he served as the Minister of the Social Welfare Department’s Panchayatiraj Department. He was the Minister of Women and Children as well.
As a member of the Naveen Patnaik Cabinet, Rout served as the Minister of Panchayatiraj, Information and Public Relations, Agriculture, Cooperatives, Fisheries and Livestock Development, Health, Employment, and others.
In addition, Damodar served on a number of significant Assembly committees. Because of his close relationship with Biju Babu, Rout decided to leave his career and enter politics at his advise.
