Unsung among Padma awardees from Bengal

The awardees also include actor Mithun Chakraborty and singer Usha Utthup, who have been conferred with the third-highest Padma Bhushan award

Dukhu Majhi, who has been for decades planting trees, a folk singer, and a third-generation chhau mask maker, are among the 11 Padma awardees from West Bengal this year. The awardees also include actor Mithun Chakraborty and singer Usha Utthup, who have been conferred with the third-highest Padma Bhushan award.

Dukhu Majhi, who has been for decades planting trees, is among the awardees. (HT PHOTO)

Former Union minister Satyabrata Mukherjee was posthumously awarded Padma Bhushan. Nepal Chandra Sutradhar, the chhau mask maker and dancer from Purulia, was posthumously given the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award.

Majhi, who was conferred with the Padma Shri, came into the limelight thanks to filmmaker Somnath Mondal’s documentary on the former’s struggle and unique way of protecting trees. The documentary won the 2023 National Film Award in the best biographical category.

Majhi, who is in his 70s, used innovative ways to protect the saplings he planted. He would put up fences of bamboo and wooden logs, which poor villagers often used as fuel, leaving the saplings unguarded. Majhi then started using fences made of burnt wooden logs or discarded clothes from crematoriums as the villagers would never touch them because of superstition. He thus protected saplings.

Ratan Kahar, the folk singer who rose to fame after rapper Badshah used his lyrics in a song featuring actress Jacqueline Fernandez, has been conferred with the Padma Shri. He wrote the song in 1972 and sang it on All India Radio in 1976. Kahar has written over 150 songs.

The other Padma awardees from West Bengal include singer Gita Roy Barman, sculptor Sanatan Rudra Pal, craftswoman Takdira Begum, scientist Narayan Chakraborty and scientist Eklavya Sharma.