Bhubaneswar, July 20: Padma Shri awardee Kamala Pujari passed away in the early hours of Saturday at the age of 73.

She had been transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) of SCB Medical College and Hospital from a Jeypore-based hospital two days earlier after her condition deteriorated. Pujari succumbed to cardiac arrest while undergoing treatment at SCB, sources said.

A team of four doctors from the Medicine, Nephrology, and Pulmonology Departments, led by Medicine Department Professor Jayant Panda, was responsible for her care.

Hailing from Koraput, Pujari was renowned for promoting organic farming and preserving traditional paddy seeds. She received several accolades for her contributions, including the Padma Shri.

Pujari had a deep interest in traditional farming and learned the basics of preserving paddy from the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation in Jeypore. She made significant contributions to organic farming and was awarded India’s fourth-highest civilian honor, the Padma Shri, in 2019 by President Ram Nath Kovind. In 2002, she brought laurels to the state by winning the Equator Initiative Award in Johannesburg, South Africa.

She is credited with preserving hundreds of indigenous varieties of paddy. For Pujari, conserving paddy and promoting organic farming was a dedicated mission. She mobilized communities, organized group gatherings, and encouraged people to abandon chemical fertilizers.

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