Freedom fighter
Noted freedom fighter and social activist Annapurna Maharana passed away. Maharana was born to Odisha’s noted freedom fighter Rama Devi and Gopabandhu Choudhury. Joining the freedom struggle at the age of only 14, Maharana was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and his ideology. She accompanied Gandhiji in his historic Harijan Pada Yatra from Puri to Bhadrak in 1934. Maharana was imprisoned at different times, including once during Quit India Movement in 1942. Besides being a freedom fighter, Maharana spent her time in social service after Independence and worked for the uplift of women and children. She too joined the Bhoodan Movement of Acharya Vinoba Bhave. She had also set up a school in Rayagada district for tribal children.