Jeypore: Padma Shri Kamala Pujari is seriously ill and is currently bedridden at her native village Patraput under Jeypore block in Koraput district. Kamala Pujari is suffering from multiple old-age related ailments. According to sources, she is in need of urgent medical care.
It has also been learnt that she is not being able to eat which has compounded her problems. Pujari is in need of nasal feeding, sources said. She had met with an accident in the past and sustained injuries. The pain has returned making her condition critical, they added.
“She has been bedridden for the last few days without any medical treatment. We urge the administration to take immediate steps so that she recovers,” neighbours said.
A tribal woman, Pujari was conferred the Padma Shri for being a pioneer of preserving hundreds of local varieties of paddy seeds and for promoting organic farming. She has preserved over hundred varieties of locally grown paddy. Pujari is also a crusader against use of chemical fertiliser.
Pujari underwent basic training on traditional farming from the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation at Jeypore. Thereafter, she held meetings at villages urging people to give up chemical fertilizers. She is also known for setting up a seed bank along with the local women in Patraput, with the help of the Swaminathan Foundation.
Besides Padma Shri, her indomitable zeal and enthusiasm in traditional farming and preserving seeds has won her many awards and accolades including ‘Equator of Initiative Award’ in 2002. In 2004, the Odisha government had felicitated her as the ‘Best Woman Farmer’ in the state. In 2007, a newly-built women’s hostel of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) in Bhubaneswar was also named after her.
PNN
