Patrons

H.E. Mr Austin Fernando

Mr Austin Fernando is the High Commissioner High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in India since November, 2018. Before coming to India, he was holding the position of the Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka from July 2017- July 2018. During that period, he was also the Chairman of the Telecommunication Authority of Sri Lanka as well as the Chairman of the Board of the Kotalawela Defense University Hospital. Between January 2015 to July 2017, he served as the Governor of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. He was also the Secretary to the Ministry of Defense, Government of Sri Lanka from December 2001 to November 2003.

Being in Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS), he served in different roles for a career span of five decades such as Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Provincial Councils; Post Master General of Sri Lanka; Chairman, State Gem Corporation; etc. He studied B. A. from University of Ceylon in 1963 and Masters in Business Administration, Post-graduate Institute of Management, Sri Jayewardenepura University, Sri Lanka in 1996. (Email ID: lanka.hc@gmail.com)

Brig. Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo (Retd), AVSM

Brig. K.P. Singh Deo was a distinguished parliamentarian and former Union Minister. He was a member of the 4th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th and 13th Lok Sabha of the Parliament of India. He was first elected to Lok Sabha in 1967 representing Swatantra Party. He represented the Dhenkanal constituency of Orissa and is a member of the Indian National Congress. He was the president of the Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee. He served as Union Minister of State for Defence (1982-84), Food & Civil Supplies (1985-86), Information & Broadcasting (1993-95).

Brig. Singh Deo was the former ruler of the princely state of Dhenkanal in Odisha. He was commissioned into Territorial Army in 1971 and was awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) in 1994. He has interest in travelling, sports, wildlife conservation & social work. In 1981, he was qualified as the 1st Asian as International Umpire in Rowing. He was the Founder President of the Asian Rowing Federation. (Email ID: kpsinghdeo.orissa@gmail.com)

Mr Bhartruhari Mahtab

Mr Bhartruhari Mahtab has been representing the Cuttack Constituency, Odisha in the House of the People (Lok Sabha) of Parliament since 1998. He is Leader of the Biju Janata Dal Parliamentary Party in the Lok Sabha since 2014. Presently, he is Chairperson of the Railway Convention Committee and Member of the Public Accounts Committee, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, Rules Committee, Committee on Ethics, Joint Committee on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015 and Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

Shri Mahtab is the Chairman of the Prajatantra Prachar Samiti and Swadhinata Sangrami Sadan Trust. He is also Managing Trustee of the Dr. Harekrushna Mahtab Foundation . He is a journalist and writer by profession. He is Editor of the ‘The Prajatantra’. He has written Chalish Varshar Ganatantra, Dharma Darshan Drusticon, Diary-RU-Kiyadansa and Shesh-Prustha-Volume I, II and III to his credit. (Email ID: bhartruhari.mahtab@gmail.com)

Mr Baijayant Panda

Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda is a Former Member of Parliament of India (Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha). He was elected to his second term (2014 – 2019) in the Lok Sabha (House of the People) from Kendrapara Constituency, Odisha. Earlier, Jay Panda had been elected to the Lok Sabha in May 2009 as well as twice earlier to the Rajya Sabha (parliament's other house, the Council of States) in 2000 and 2006, also from the State of Odisha.

Mr Panda is one of the founding members of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party, whose Founder President is Naveen Patnaik, currently serving in his fourth term as Chief Minister of Odisha. He graduated from the Michigan Technological University and, with a background in Engineering and Management, worked in the corporate sector before joining politics. He is the present Chairman of the India-USA Forum of Parliamentarians. In December 2017, he was felicitated with the “Parliamentarian of the Year” award by Skoch Foundation.(Email ID: office@bjpanda.org )