Smt. Shanti Devi

Smt. Shanti Devi was born in Balasore, also known as the Baleshwar district, of Odisha, on 18 April 1934.
She is 87 yrs old now. At 17 yrs of age, she got married to Dr. Ratan Das, a Gandhian.
In 1951 just four months after marriage, she came to the Koraput area with her husband.
Since 1951 she has been working at the grass-roots level to restore peace in the Maoist affected areas of Odisha and empowering girls to be self-dependent.
She strives to ensure that every person from a poor soci-economic background in Rayagada and Koraput district has a piece of land to call his own.

She established four ashrams in Raigarh District.

• First in 1951 in village Khambesu for tribal children and leprosy patients.
• In 1964, she started an ashram in Gunupur by the name Seva Samaj ashram for education, rehabilitation, and vocational training of orphan and destitute children and tribal girls.
• In 1993, in Limameda village, she opened a school and hostel for tribal girls.
• In Jabarguda, she opened an ashram for leprosy patients and a school for girls which is from first to fifth grade,

She launched day nurseries/creches, health care, and nutritional breakfast in schools. She also worked for the eradication of Yaws disease.
She worked with Acharya Vinoba Bhave for the Bhoo Daan movement.
She also wrote a book on the life of Acharya Vinoba Bhave, titled Ahinsara Anwesana.

She has been leading many organizations.

• She has been secretary of Utkal Navjeevan Mandal that is one of the leading voluntary organizations of Odisha, established on 24 October 1948.
• She holded the position of President of Odisha Prohibition Congress, demanding a ban on the consumption and manufacture of alcohol in the state.
• She has been Vice President of Agragamee’s governing body since its inception. Agragamee is a non-profit organization working with the poor communities in Odisha and is committed to their development and wellbeing.
• She has been working with educational institutes and actively promoting Odisha culture.

Awards

• She earned the moniker ‘Koraputia Gandhi’ meaning Koraput’s Gandhi.
• She received the Radhanath Rath Peace Award that was instituted in 2002 to honor Radhanath Rath, the legendary editor of Samaja.
• She was conferred with the first Woman Peacemaker Award, instituted by the Odisha-based Maa Ghara Foundation,
• In 1994, she received the Jamnalal Bajaj Award for the development and welfare of women and children. Jamnalal Bajaj Award is an Indian award for promoting Gandhian values, community service, and social development.
• And in 2021, she received Padma Shri Award for her distinguished service in the field of social work

Yaws is one of NTD (Neglected Tropical Disease). It usually affects children up to 15 yrs of age. If left untreated, it leads to disfigurement and disability. W.H.O. says that where the road ends, Yaws begins as overcrowding,poor personal hygiene, and poor sanitaion facilitates the spread of this disease.

There is no vaccine for this. Prevention is by interruption of transmission and treatment is mass drug administration.

Her sayings
There is no need for people to remember me. The work that I have started should go on.
The actual award for any human is his or her work for the betterment of society. No prize is better than bringing a positive change in the life of less privileged children.

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Bharti Raizada