NORTH LAKHIMPUR, Feb 15 � Four prominent Gandhian workers were presented the prestigious Sarvodaya awards on Thursday for their life-long contribution towards the Sarvodaya Movement initiated by pacifist Acharya Vinoba Bhave a century ago.
The award winners were Padma Shree Hema Bharali, Hem Prabha Bora, Lakhi Phukan and Umesh Chandra Medhi. A meeting was organised on the occasion at Mayetree Ashram, a Sarvodaya centre established by Binoba Bhave in 1962 at Leelabari near North Lakhimpur.
The meeting on the occasion was organised by the Assam Sarvodaya Mandal and Sarvodaya Trust in association with the governing body of Mayetree Ashram and the Gandhi Study Centre of Lakhimpur Girls� College to mark Sarvodaya Day and Sutranjali Divas.
Padma Shree Hema Bharali was conferred the BK Bhandari-Savitree Bhandari Sarvodaya Award, while Hem Prabha Bora was conferred the Sant Ram Arora-Swaran Kaur Arora Sarvodaya Award, and Lakhi Phukan got the Ghana Kanti Phukan-Ganjendra Nath Phukan Sarvodaya Award, while Umesh Chandra Medhi was presented the Ram Nagina Singh-Tileswari Devi Singh Sarvodaya Award.
However, Hema Bharali could not receive the award personally. The awards were presented by Anima Hazarika, retired Justice of Gauhati High Court at a solemn ceremony attended by several prominent citizens of North Lakhimpur.
After delivering the awards, Justice Anima Hazarika said that the relevance of Mahatma Gandhi�s teachings and philosophy was very much topical even today, especially in regard to religious tolerance, besides the relentless fight to eradicate the cancer of casteism.
Earlier, the meeting was inaugurated by Kusum Bora Mokashi, former official of Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust, Assam unit, followed by a mass prayer led by Champa Patar, managing trustee of Mayetree Ashram. Sutranjali and Gandhi Anjali was initiated by Ramesh Sarma, former president of Assam Sarvodaya Mandal, followed by inauguration of the award presentation session by Damayanti Devi of the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust, Assam unit. The session was chaired by Hem Kakati, president of the managing committee of Mayetree Ashram.
The session was attended by Dr Ramji Singh and Vijay Kumar, trustee and chairman of Sarva Seva Sangh respectively. The Pappu Thakur Memorial Sarvodaya Award for Youth was presented to Shiva Jyoti Tanti and Gram Dani Award was presented to Manikachuk village of Dhakuwakhona of Lakhimpur district.
