Jamuna Tudu Biography 
Jamuna Tudu is a social worker and activist from the state of Jharkhand, best known for her efforts to save trees and forests. She has more than 300 social groups, with around 30 people in each group, constantly working to save the forest land from the mafia. She has received numerous honours for her services towards mother earth. For her efforts, government of India honoured him with Padma Shri in 2019. As of now she has spent more than 2 decades in her efforts to protect the forests of Muturkham.
Jamuna Tudu was born in Odisha. She settled in Muturkham village of Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district after marriage. Muturkham was surrounded by 50 hectares of forest land then. Later the forest was plagued by the forest mafia and poachers. Knowing the value of trees, she decided to protect the forest and took the matter in her hands. She formed the ‘Van Suraksha Samiti’ (Forest safety committee) in 1998 with a group of five women. Initially her pledge to save the forest was met with opposition from the villagers. Many of them asked why to save forests as it was the source of firewood. Somehow she managed to convince others to use only the smaller branches of trees as fuel and leave the bigger ones untouched.
In the past two decades, she has formed more than 300 such groups, with around 30 people in each group. They work in the area on three shifts to protect the forest area from mafia. They also carry bows, arrows, sticks and even dogs to ward off the mafia. They have filed many FIRs and helped the Jharkhand Armed Police to nab several mafia men. She was one of the recipients of Women Transforming India Awards 2017 and also Padma Shri 2019.
Published: February 03, 2019
Updated: February 03, 2019
