Madhusudan_Das

•His Life and Achievements 137
under the flood waters the volunters of this Association reached the
people with rehet materials like chura. rice and cloth for distribution
among the distress people. Another batch of volunteers collected funds
from other areas for the affected people. I he branches of this Association
were opened in different schools. "Ihis was the beginning of the first
social and humanitarian service by Gopahandhu. To fulfil his other
ambition of lite for spreading literacy. Gopahandhu joined as the Head
Master of the Nilagiri High School and gave a start to it on a strong
foundation. He then joined the Bar at Cuttack and Puri. Now. there is
much talk, going on in the country for providing free legal aid to the poor
by lawyers who do not want to sacrifice their fees for giving legal aid to
the poor but want to take the tees from the Government for the poor. But
Gopahandhu did not believe in such kind of legal aid to the poor. He
himself helped the poor people wherever he found that it was necessary.
Mr. Das who was highly impressed with Gopahandhu's legal
acumen and public spirit recommended his name to Maharaia Rama
Chandra Bhanja Deo of Mayurbhanja to appoint him as the State's legal
ptactitioner and pleader. Gopahandhu joined and continued in
Mayurbhanj Stale as me stale pleader till the death of the Maharaja
Ramachandra Bhanja Deo in 1912. Almough he went to the Mayurbhanj
State for a short period he was taking keen and activee interest in the
public activities in this of Orissa. His short stay in the teudatory State
of Mayurbhanj which was reputed as one of the progressive and wellmanaged
States of its kind however gave him an opportunity to know
intimately the ways and methods of the autocratic Garjat rulers and their
administrations.
SATYABADI SCHOOL
In 1909 Gopahandhu had already started the Satyavadi M.E.
(National) School with Pandit Nilakantha Das and others in which Pandit
Godavarish and Acharya Harihara also joined little later. This School
soon become popular for its qualitative education and character building
value.
UTKAL UNION CONFERENCE
Madhusudan continued his struggle to arouse the people of Orissa
to press their demands (or the separate Orissa province. The Utkal Union
Conference which was the sole representative organisation of the Oriyas
lor the establishment of linguistic, cultural and emotional integration