Bhubaneswar: Padma Shri awardee Nanda Sir Tuesday died of Covid related complications. Nanda Prusty (also known as Nanda Sir) died in a private hospital in Bhubaneswar.
“Nanda Prusty died at 1.28 pm,” Sum Hospital said in a statement today. He passed away at the age of 104.
Prusty, a resident of Kantira village in Sukinda block, was admitted to a hospital in Jajpur district’s Kalinga Nagar area November 30 after collapsing suddenly and complaining of uneasiness.
At the hospital, he tested positive for Covid.
Later, his family took him to the Jajpur district headquarters hospital and the Tata Covid hospital for further treatment.
When his condition worsened, he was transferred to the Sum Hospital in Bhubaneswar, where he breathed his last. Prusty was awarded the Padma Shri by India’s President last month.
Despite the fact that Nanda Sir was only able to study until Class 7 due to his family’s financial difficulties, he provided free education to primary school students in his area at his ‘Chatashali.’
Nanda Sir was allegedly threatened by some fellow villagers over a land dispute two days before his hospitalisation. His son had also been thrashed as a result of the disagreement.
According to reports, the centenarian teacher’s son was stopped in the middle of his journey to fetch medicines or the father by a gang of miscreants. The thugs then allegedly thrashed him and threatened to do the same to his father (Nanda Sir) if he did not make amends.
PNN