Sumani Jhodia is an Indian tribal activist hailing from

Rayagada district Rayagada district is a district in the southern Odisha States and union territories of India, state in India. Rayagada became a separate district in October 1992. Its population consists mainly of Adivasi, tribes, primarily the Khonds and t ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

best known for campaigning against the sale of liquor in tribal areas, advocating for tribal rights over minor forest produce, and opposing government policies that lease tribal land to private companies for industrial projects. In 1995,

Biju Patnaik Bijayananda Patnaik (5 March 1916 – 17 April 1997) was an Indian politician and aviator. He served as the 3rd Chief Minister of the State of Odisha from 1961 to 1963 and from 1990 to 1995. He was also the 14th Steel and mines and 1st Coal Uni ...

, then Chief Minister of Odisha, appointed her as one of the unofficial advisors on sustainable development, literacy, and the poverty-alleviation programmes. Sumani was honoured with 2003 Rani Gaidinliu Zeiliang Stree Shakti Award (predecessor of the

Nari Shakti Puraskar The Nari Shakti Puraskar () is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is presented by the presi ...

) by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

Early life and education

Sumani Jhodia was born in the Siriguda village in

Rayagada Rayagada is a municipality in Rayagada district in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the administrative headquarters of Rayagada district. History The city of Rayagada was founded by King Vishwanath Dev Gajapati (1527-1531 CE) of the Suryava ...

, Odisha. Her family is part of Jhodia Paroja, a tribal community with a population of 50,000 living across 85 Indian villages, particularly in the Kashipur block of the Rayagada district. Primarily a forest-dwelling community, Jhodias make a living by collecting forest produce, practicing ''podu chasa'' (or

shifting cultivation Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cul ...

), and engaging in various forms of daily-wage labour. Sumani's father, Ravi Jhodia, encouraged her to attend school, but she dropped out after six months due to the nearest school being three kilometres away. By 17, she was married and had her first child. At the time, Ramdhar Jhodia was considered to be the most literate man in her village, having studied till Class 9 (or

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

). He worked as a night schoolteacher with Agragamee, a local

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

. The village elders persuaded Sumani to enrol at Agragamee, where she learned to read and write. She also attended Agragamee's leadership development programme that made her aware of the exploitation her tribal community were being subjected to.

Activism

Sumani and her team of advisors faced opposition from local liquor barons, and local goons for their efforts. Aundhari Majhi, one of the women with special policing powers, filed a police complaint against Rati Majhi, the owner of one of the local breweries, for threatening her. Sumani mobilised 5000 women from the Kashipur block to surround the police station until Majhi was rounded up. As many as eight criminal cases were filed against Sumani during this time. She, alongside a group of tribal women, was attacked by an axe-wielding man on her way back from Mandibisi. He was kept in policy custody for four days after the women filed a formal complaint against him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jhodia, Sumani Indian activists Indian women activists Indigenous activists of Asia Year of birth missing (living people) Living people