Padma Awardee Kamala Pujari passes away

Cuttack: Kamala Pujari, who was awarded Padma Shri for promoting organic farming and preserving over 100 varieties of indigenous seeds of crops including paddy, passed away at SCB Medical College and Hospital (MCH) in Odisha’s Cuttack on Saturday morning.

Pujari, who was undergoing treatment at the hospital for the last few days, breathed her last in the early hours following a cardiac arrest at the age of 74, family sources said.

She was initially admitted to Koraput’s District Headquarters Hospital at Jeypore on July 16 before being shifted to SCB on July 18 for further treatment.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and a host of other dignitaries mourned her demise. Describing Pujari as an extraordinary woman with unique talents, the Chief Minister said she preserved many varieties of indigenous seeds of different crops besides promoting organic farming.

As per Majhi’s direction, the last rites of Pujari will be performed with full state honours. The CM also spoke to Pujari’ son Tankathar Pujari and conveyed his heartfelt condolences.

Pujari, a tribal woman from Patraput Village near near Boipariguda in Koraput district, was known for promoting organic farming and preserving hundreds of indigenous varieties of crops.

A girls’ hostel of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) in Bhubaneswar was named after Kamala in March 2017. She was honoured with the ‘Equator of Initiative Award’ in 2002 at Johannesburg. She was awarded the Padma Shri — India’s fourth highest civilian honour — in 2019.

The Odisha government had honoured her as the ‘Best Woman Farmer’ in 2004. She had also been awarded by the national award — ‘Krusi Bisarada Samman’ — in New Delhi.

She holds the unique distinction of being the first tribal woman to be included in the list of members of the Odisha State Planning Board. She was made a member of the five-member team in March 2018 that makes a five-year plan for the state apart from providing short and long-term policy guidelines.