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Jeypore: Padma Shri Kamala Pujari has been admitted to the Saheed Laxman Naik Hospital in Koraput district after her health condition worsened on Tuesday.
According to sources, Pujari is suffering from multiple old-age related illness, high blood pressure and kidney ailments.
Earlier on June 7, she was admitted to the Koraput District Headquarter Hospital (DHH) after she fell ill. Later, she was shifted to the Saheed Laxman Naik Hospital as her condition deteriorated.
It has also been learnt that she was not being able to eat which has compounded her problems. Pujari was in need of nasal feeding. She had met with an accident in the past and sustained injuries. The pain returned making her condition critical.
However, according to medical sources, her health condition is stable now. A special medical team has been formed to take care of her treatment.
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.
(Edited by Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty)
