Tulasi Munda
Tribal activist

Teaching self-reliance

BHUBANESHWAR: Tulasi Munda has never been to school but is single-handedly responsible for the education of more than 25,000 tribal children of Bhubaneswar. Considered as mother by tribals, the 63-year-old has such a clout amongst them that in times of crisis, chief minister Naveen Patnaik has turned to her to settle burning issues, including the agitation that followed the Kalinga Nagar shoot-out, which claimed the lives of 13 tribals.
A Padma Shri awardee, Tulsi, who spent her early life as a daily wage labour in the mining areas, has set up nearly 18 schools till date. The first school started by her under a Mahua tree in the mineral rich-tribal district Keonjhar was funded by selling vegetables.

She has also set up the Adivasi Vikas Samiti to spearhead a literacy movement for tribals. “The concept of education has changed. No one should run after jobs. You have to be a self-entrepreneur and a farmer. All problems can be sorted out of if people get the right sort of education,” she says.

She continues to live in the Maoist-infested district and that does not scare her. “All these problems are related to unemployment. These problems would be sorted out through a human touch. Battles cannot win hearts of tribals. You have to work for their overall development,” she maintains.

As told to Subhashish Mohanty