Report by OD bureau; New Delhi:  US-based free online encyclopedia Wikipedia on Sunday organized Odia Wikipedia workshop at Hauz Khas in New Delhi. Nearly 15 Odia people participated in this workshop.

In this workshop volunteers were trained how to create, edit articles on Odia Wikipedia. The prime objective is to encourage youngsters to contribute articles in Odia and enrich Odia language in world wide web through Wikipedia.

Odia Wikipedia is a volunteer driven, web-based multilingual free encyclopedia project, has emerged as an important reference source on for all kinds of information. Anyone and everyone can edit articles and improve them. Subashish Panigrahi of Wikipedia said to PBD that, "In order to take the Wikipedia project forward, these ‘Odia Wiki activists’ are now looking for support in Odia language. To get more contributors to Odia Wiki, we are holding workshops in Odisha, all metros of India and even outside India."

He further added that Odia Wikipedia is documenting topics like art, culture, language, personality, place and heritage in Odia language. Wikipedia (or.wikipedia.org) has seen a drastic growth, both in terms of quality and quantity. This regional Wiki is receiving 5 lakh hits from around the world on an average everyday.

Odia Wikipedian Meraj said, "Our primary intention is to make Odia Wikipedia as wide-based as possible so that one can access the content from any part of the world."

"There is so much of scope of documenting  our art, literature and culture for the future generation. We can take this to schools and colleges. Students always use Wikipedia for their assignment and research, when they gain knowledge for free from Wikipedia they should also contribute on Wikipedia", quoted another wikipedian Santosh.