Overview

• The two-day national meeting, held outside Delhi for the first time since the series began in 1976, wrapped up in Bhubaneswar on August 30 after an inaugural day led by Speaker Om Birla.
• Roughly 200 delegates from Parliament and 19 states attended alongside Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Jual Oram, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, and committee chair Faggan Singh Kulaste.
• Birla voiced concern over fewer sittings and declining standards of debate in legislatures, stressing that committee work rises above party lines and should drive consensus recommendations.
• Speakers pressed for close review of allocations and delivery of welfare schemes for SCs and STs, with emphasis on education access under the National Education Policy and initiatives like PM Janman and PVTG-focused missions.
• The conference featured an exhibition inaugurated by Birla and cultural outreach, with delegates scheduled for visits to the Konark Sun Temple and the Jagannath Temple in Puri.