Chhattisgarh: Social worker, couple dedicated to tribal welfare and healthcare to receive Padma Shri

Raipur, Jan 25 (PTI) Pioneering grassroots social worker, Budhri Tati, also known as Badi Didi, and Dr Ramchandra Godbole and his wife Sunita, who took affordable healthcare to tribals in remote areas, have been chosen for the Padma Shri awards from Chhattisgarh.

On Republic Day eve, the Union government announced 131 Padma awards for 2026, including five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri, which includes two duo cases in which the award for two individuals is counted as one.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai congratulated the awardees and said their selection was a matter of pride for the state.

“The inclusion of these three eminent personalities from Chhattisgarh in the Padma Shri list is a moment of honour and pride for the state. It is especially noteworthy that all of them have been serving for years in remote and Naxal-affected areas of the Bastar region,” Sai said.

Tati, a resident of Hiranar village in Dantewada district, will be honoured for her contribution to women’s empowerment, tribal upliftment, and social service. Tati has empowered more than 500 women to become self-reliant.

Since 1984, she has been working in forest areas on de-addiction programmes, literacy campaigns, social awareness initiatives and promoting education for women and girls. She has also been honoured by the Chhattisgarh government.

Many of the women she supported are now working as nurses. Speaking to PTI Videos, she said, “I belong to the tribal society living in forests. This award belongs to the community. We worked for society, and society stood by us.” She added that she walked through 400 to 500 villages to win people’s trust when she began her work, and continues to focus on awareness related to education, health, cleanliness and environmental protection.

The Godbole couple will receive the prestigious award for their exemplary contribution in the field of medical services.

Dr Ramchandra Godbole, an Ayurvedic doctor, and his wife Sunita have been providing free medical services in extremely remote tribal areas like Bastar and Abujhmad for over 37 years, a government release said.

Through their initiative ‘Trust for Health’, the couple has been working to spread health awareness and combat malnutrition. They provide primary treatment in villages lacking basic facilities such as roads, electricity and mobile connectivity. They often travel on foot or with limited resources to organise regular medical camps and treat patients, it added.

Between 1965 and 2025, as many as 34 individuals had received the Padma Shri awards. Renowned Pandwani singer Teejan Bai is the lone personality from Chhattisgarh who has received all three Padma awards for her remarkable achievements in the field of folk singing (Pandwani). PTI COR TKP NR