Cuttack
Padma Shri awardee Kamala Pujari passed away in the wee hours on Saturday due to a cardiac arrest. She was suffering from kidney-related ailments.
She was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of SCB Medical College and Hospital here after being shifted from a Jeypore-based hospital two days back after her condition deteriorated.
A team of four doctors from the Departments of Medicine, Nephrology and Pulmonology was formed to treat Pujari. The team was led by Medicine Department Head Professor Jayant Panda.
Pujari was conferred the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, in 2019 for promoting organic farming and preserving over 100 varieties of indigenous seeds of different crops including paddy. She received the award from the then President Ram Nath Kovind.
Pujari, who hailed from Koraput, learned the basic techniques of preserving paddy from MS Swaminathan Research Foundation at Jeypore and went on to promote organic farming and paddy conservation in a big way. Her efforts also saw her winning the ‘Equator Initiative Award’ in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002.
Of late, Pujari was not keeping well and had undergone treatment at SCB multiple times in the past too.
In 2022, a major controversy had erupted over a video showing a social worker making the tribal activist dance with her in a hospital. In the viral video, the septuagenarian Padma Shri awardee was seen dancing in the ICU of the SCB Medical College and Hospital.
The social worker named Mamata Behera was also seen dancing with her. The incident occurred prior to her discharge from the hospital and led to a probe by the Government.
The Paraja tribal community, to which Pujari belonged, had warned of hitting the streets if action was not taken against the social activist. The Koraput district administration had served notice on Behera and her attendant.
