Rao Bahadur Sir Annepu Parasuramdas Patra (Odia: ଆନେପୁ ପର୍ଶୁରାମ ପାତ୍ର) or KCIE (1876-1946) was an Odia moment fighter, zamindar and first education minister in the erstwhile Madras Presidency from Ganjam district. Patra was born in a rich and powerful family of Brahampur, Odisha.

He did his schooling in Berhampur and graduated in law from Madras Christian College. Patro actively participated in the Odia Movement and was a member of the Indian National Congress and later, the Justice Party.

In 1920, first, he was elected to the Madras Legislative Council and served as the Minister of Public Works and Education from (as an Odia) 1921. In 1937, Patro was elected to the Odisha Legislative Council. He served as Speaker of the Assembly for a short time until his death.

It was during Patra's tenure that the Andhra University was established. Patra was also responsible for creating the existing administrative system of Madras University.

Patro was born in Brahampur in the Ganjam district.  His father Narayan Patra was a Diwan of Mahuri king. He had his schooling in Berhampur and graduated in law from the Madras Christian College. On graduation, Patro practiced as an advocate during which his most important clients were the rajas and zamindars of Odisha. Patra gradually rose to become a district-level court pleader.

In the early years of the 20th century, Patra got involved in the Odia movement which demanded a separate Odisha province comprising all Oriya- speaking districts of Madras, Bengal, and Central Provinces. In 1902-03, he spearheaded agitations in the Ganjam district. This marked the beginning of his political career in those days.

During the First Round Table Conference held in London on November 12, 1930, the Raja of Paralakhemundi supported by the Utkal Provincial Congress Committee and the Indian National Congress, appealed to the Chairman of the Committee for a separate province on behalf of the Odias. Patro, then a member of the Madras Legislative Council, supported his proposal and expressed his solidarity with the movement.

Patra joined the Indian National Congress in the early years of the second decade of the 20th CE and in 1915, was the sole non-Brahmin in the All India Congress Committee. In 1917, Patro resigned from the Indian National Congress to found the South Indian Liberal Federation.

Minister of public works and education Patro was one of the founder-members of the Justice Party. He contested in the first general elections in the Presidency held in November 1920 and was elected to the Madras Legislative Council.

On July 11, 1921, when A. Subbarayalu Reddiar, the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency who held the portfolios of education and public works resigned citing health reasons, Patro was appointed in his stead, as the Minister of Education and Public Works.

Patra served as the Minister of Education from July 11, 1921 to December 3, 1926. During his tenure as Education Minister, Patra introduced the Madras University Act in 1923 which democratized the management of the University of Madras.

On October 12, 1925, Patra inaugurated the Loyola College in Chennai. Later political activism Patra was an active leader in the Justice Party even after the end of his ministry. In the late 1920s, when two separate factions the Ministerialists and Constitutionalists evolved party.

In the early 1930s, as the movement for a separate province of Odisha gained momentum, Patra actively supported the movement and worked for the Oriya speaking northern districts of the Presidency with the new province. In 1935, Patro resigned his membership of the Madras Legislative Council when the Ganjam district and parts of the Vizagapatam district were officially transferred to Odisha. In the Odisha Assembly, Patra was elected to the Odisha Legislative Council in 1937.

He opposed the Quit India Movement and offered his full support to the British war-effort during the Second World War. He was re-elected to the assembly in 1946 and served as speaker of the Assembly. Patro died in 1946. He was approximately 70 years old at that time. He is Little known personality in Odisha.

Patro received the title of Rao Bahadur, was knighted in the 1924 New Year Honours list, and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Indian Empire (KCIE).

- Bishnu Mohan Adhikari