Eco awards given
The Telegraph, Kolkata, Jan 11, 2010
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Bhubaneswar, Jan. 10: Forty-eight-year-old Sulochana has been struggling to make a living for herself and her four children ever since her husband Kalakar Suna was killed by the wood mafia last November.
Yet she travelled all the way to Bhubaneswar to receive the prestigious Ashok Babu Smruti Sammana Puraskara which was given posthumously to Kalakar.
Kalakar, the president of the Bhitarpad forest protection committee in Deogarh, had been mobilising support of villagers to help protect the forests by checking rampant felling of trees in the area.
On many occasions he had challenged the timber mafia and made several complaints to the forest authorities against illegal use of forest produce. On November 28, 2009, Kalakar was found murdered inside the forest.
“He used to come home only for lunch and spent the entire day in the forests. He loved the trees more than his children,” Sulochana said, eyes brimming with tears.
The widow appealed to the government to help bail out her family that has been pushed to uncertainty after the sudden demise of her husband.
“I don’t have the capacity to feed my family. I am unable to even afford a biscuit or a notebook for my children,” said Sulochana, adding that her health did not permit her to opt for daily labour.
While there is a provision of rehabilitation for government officials killed on duty, there is no such provision for those like Kalakar taking up the job voluntarily, rued Arobindo Behera, managing director of IDCOL. He said he would make efforts to provide aid to the family.
The Ashok Babu Paribesh Mitra Award went to the Kalahandi Jungle Surakshya Mancha while the Ashok Babu Ajibana Sadhaka Puraskar was given to Dharmananda Guntha of Koraput.
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