Padma Shri Awardee Chami Murmu: Environmental Champion and Women's Empowerment Leader in Jamshedpur

Jamshedpur: Chami Murmu, a Padma Shri awardee, is a beacon of change for the state. With her ineffaceable mark on the landscape, the 55-year-old tribal woman has dedicated her life to environmental conservation.With a network of 35,000 village women, Chami’s NGO, Sahayogi Mahila, has planted 34 lakh plants in 500-plus villages in her home district, Seraikela-Kharsawan, in the last 35 years. “Every year we plant 1 lakh saplings with the help of our strong network,” Chami told STOI.A resident of Bhagrasai village under Rajnagar block, Chami’s early learning about environmental conservation came at the age of nine.“I consider my late grandfather (Lal Murmu) my idol. It was from him I learned that conservation of nature is a must for the existence of humans.

When I was around nine, I used to attend religious congregations with him. At the gatherings, he used to speak about the importance of conserving the flora and fauna,” said Chami.After losing her father and elder brother at an early age, she became the sole breadearner for three young siblings and an ailing mother. As she confronted significant financial hardship to make ends meet, Chami, at one of the livelihood meetings organised by the district administration in 1989, got to know about the women self-help group (SSHG) and how it helps in empowering women.

“It was in the same year I formed Sahayogi Mahila and embarked on forming SHGs,” Chami said. A year after forming the NGO, Chami took up forest conservation activity. “Initially, family members were not supportive, but later they came along with the purposeful idea,” Chami said.With no looking back, Chami was instrumental in forming SHGs, helping needy women secure bank loans and credit.Chami said that between 1990 and 2023, she planted 30 lakh-plus saplings across 800 hectares of barren land spread across 500 villages in the Seraikela subdivision.

Seesham, sal, eucalyptus, neem, acacia and mango are among the trees that she planted to replenish forests that were allegedly destroyed by the timber mafias.In recognition of her activities, the Union women and child development ministry felicitated Chami with the Nari Shakti award in 2019. In 2024, the govt awarded her the Padma Shri in recognition of her extraordinary contributions to both environmental conservation and socio-economic upliftment.