Sat Paul Mittal National Awards: ‘Forest Man of India’ Jadav Payeng presented with award by Punjab governor
Jadav Payeng, the “Forest Man of India”, was conferred with the Sat Paul Mittal National Award by Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit at Nehru Sidhant Kender in Ludhiana on Wednesday
Jadav Payeng, the “Forest Man of India”, and three others were conferred with the Sat Paul Mittal National Award by Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit at Nehru Sidhant Kender on Wednesday.
While Payeng and Radhike Khanna received the award in the individual category; Helpage India and Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation were the winners in the institutional category
While Khanna and Helpage India won the Sat Paul Mittal Platinum Award and received a cash prize of ₹5 lakh each, Payeng and Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation were awarded ₹1 lakh each as they received the gold award.
Payeng, who was conferred with the Padma Shri award in 2015 by the government of India, had single-handedly turned 550 hectares of barren land on the banks of the Brahmaputra river in Kokilamukh of Jorhat, Assam, into a full-grown forest over a span of 30 years.
The environmental crusader, who was visiting Punjab for the first time, said that the locals named the forest “Molai” as his childhood name was ”Mola”’. He started the plantation with 20 bamboo trees when he saw hundreds of snakes had died due to lack of shade at the sandbar at his home island Majuli. He had even been appreciated for his work by former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam.
Payeng said he doesn’t believe in only planting, but also caring for and nurturing trees. Despite having been invited by top universities and governments to share his wisdom of forest plantation, he lives a simple life without smartphones and prefers travelling by train over an aeroplane.
He said, “I want young children to love the planet as they love their parents and the best way to show their love is by planting and caring for trees.”
While sharing his goals, he said, “I will travel to educational institutes across the country to encourage the youth to join the movement against climate change.”
Khanna has been working towards providing vocational training to specially-abled young adults in Maharashtra since 1987.
She said that the specially-abled people are the most marginalised section of society. “We started a residential home to impart training to specially-abled children in different skills including visual arts, ceramics, agriculture and informational technology in 2015.”
Radhike, who hails from Amritsar, said, “Lack of proper training to guide specially-abled children leaves the teachers at a disadvantage. With the financial support received today. we will set up a training centre for them.”
Helpage India is the implementation partner of government of India in starting Elderline - a toll-free helpline for senior citizens. The organisation has 170 mobile healthcare units operating across 24 states in India.
Sasakawa India Leprosy foundation which received the Sat Paul Mittal Gold Award 2022 works towards rehabilitation and socioeconomic empowerment of people affected by leprosy. Over 2800 people have received the benefit of livelihood projects being run by the organisation. Started in 2006 the organisation aims at erasing the stigma around leprosy patients.
