Nilamani Routray( or, ନୀଳମଣି ରାଉତରାୟ)(24 May 1920 – 4 October 2004) was an Indian politician and the Chief Minister of Odisha from 1977 to 1980. He served as the Health and Family Welfare Minister and then Forest and Environment Minister in the Union Government led by V.P. Singh. He died on 4 October 2004.

Political career

Nilamani Routray was a founder of the Odisha unit of

All India Students Federation The All India Students' Federation (AISF) is the oldest surviving student organisation in India, founded in 1936. Pre-independence AISF was founded on 12 August 1936, with guidance and cooperation from the Indian independence movement. The f ...

. He was the president of the Odisha state unit of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

from 1967 to 1970. Later he joined the Utkal Congress and became its president. Subsequently, he switched over to the

Bharatiya Lok Dal Bharatiya Lok Dal ( English: Indian Peoples' Party) was a political party in India. The BLD or simply BL was formed at the end of 1974 through the fusion of seven parties opposed to the rule of Indira Gandhi, including the Swatantra Party, ...

and became the president of its state unit. He was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-pas ...

in 1989.

Works

His autobiography ''Smruti O Anubhuti'' (1986) won the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award in 1988.

References

Chief Ministers of Odisha 1920 births 2004 deaths Deputy chief ministers of Odisha People from Balasore district India MPs 1989–1991 Lok Sabha members from Odisha Rajya Sabha members from Odisha Ravenshaw University alumni Chief ministers from Janata Party Indian National Congress politicians Janata Party politicians Janata Dal politicians People from Puri district Utkal Congress politicians Bharatiya Lok Dal politicians Odisha MLAs 1977–1980 Indian National Congress politicians from Odisha Writers from Odisha Odia-language writers Recipients of the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award {{Odisha-INC-politician-stub