Bhubaneswar, Jan. 13: Mauritian civil servant Ramroop Jugurnauth, whose great great grandfather had migrated to Mauritius about 150 years ago, is upset with the state government.

Ramroop had visited the state in 2012 and anxiously tried tracing his ancestral village. Now, despite his efforts to initiate and help the state government promote the Odia language and culture in Mauritius, the lukewarm response of the administration here has left him disheartened. Since he did not receive any positive response after several attempts to revive the Odia culture in the Mauritian Odia community, he is on the brink of giving up.

In 1870, the first Jugurnauth had moved to Mauritius. Archives documents and reports show that Odias were the minorities among the indentured labourers in Mauritius.

'There is no proof that they were anywhere on the island living in community, sharing Odia culture and language. Most likely, they were left to fight for survival and had to choose between themselves and their culture. Other minorities have survived and surmounted the test of protecting their culture and language. Tamil, Telugu and Marathi are today not only living, but also flourishing minority languages in Mauritius. All the three are now taught at the university level,' said the 53-year-old Ramroop.

During his visit to Odisha, he had written to chief minister Naveen Patnaik with some suggestions on how to revive and promote the Odia language and culture in Mauritius.

'I have not yet received a reply. In July 2014, I wrote another letter and sent it by post to him. I had also emailed him and his senior officers. Yet, I got no reply. Two weeks ago, I called up the chief secretary and spoke to one of his officers. He asked me to forward the email again, which I did. This time, too, I received no reply,' said a disappointed Ramroop.

Last Sunday, he spoke to a senior officer, who informed him that the email address he had used was wrong. 'When I told him I had got this address from the official website, he just asked me to resend the mail. I did and am waiting for at least an acknowledgement in the first instance. This makes me wonder whether this is all the consideration I deserve! I have asked for no personal favour,' he said.

'My heart bleeds when I see how my other Mauritian fellow nationals speak of their states of origin and how the states are helping in the promotion of their ancestral language and culture. More than 100 Mauritians, descendants of indentured labourers, attended the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Gujarat this year. What about Odia descendants, their language and culture? They do not exist as an entity because there is no official recognition,' Ramroop said, adding that when in two years not a single step has been taken officially, he has decided to stop making further efforts.

When contacted, an official in the chief minister's office said they were yet to receive any communication from Ramroop.