Meet The Senior Citizens Honoured With Padma Shri Awards This Year

The Padma Shri awards were announced recently and the list boasts of several senior citizens doing exemplary work. We introduce you to some of the inspirational seniors honoured with Padma Shri Awards 2019.

#InspirationOfTheDay

Farmer, tea seller, doctor…meet the senior citizens whose inspiring work saw them being honoured with the Padma Shri award this year:

Daitari Naik, 75, is known as the Canal Man of Odisha. He single handedly dug a 3 km long canal to bring water to the agricultural fields in his village for irrigation and drinking.

Sudama Kate, 65, is the pioneer of sickle cell research in India. He screened 2 lakh people for sickle cell and identified 3000 patients in the tribal community. He is working for the tribal community in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Saalumarada Thimmakka, 106, is a legend and the grand old lady of saving trees. She has planted thousands of trees over 65 years and protected them as her own children. She has also spread awareness about deforestation and travelled to attend environmental programs and awareness seminars.

Madurai Chinna Pillai, 66, is an illiterate farmer who spreadcommunity based microfinance for poverty reduction. She is the pioneer of the Kalanjiam movement in the villages of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

D Prakash Rao, 59, has provided education to slum children through the money earned as a tea seller. He contributed half the income generated from selling tea to set up a school in Cuttack, Odisha.

At 84, Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee is still practising, treating poor patients for only Rs 5. He sees over 40 patients in a day and distributes medicines free of cost.

Rajkumari Devi, 65, is better known as Kissan Chachi. The lady from Bihar mobilised 300 women to form self help groups and become financially independent. She also trained women to create varieties of pickles and chutneys and founded the Anandpur Jyoti centre. All this despite going through a child marriage herself.

Tsering Norboo, 74, is also known as the wonder surgeon of Ladakh. He has performed 500 surgeries in the last 50 years, in a remote and difficult terrain. He has worked against alcohol and smoking menace.