GUWAHATI
Hyderabad-based environmentalist M. Karunakar Reddy has been chosen for the first award named after Jadav Payeng, better known as the Forest Man of India.
The Jadav Payeng International Award, carrying ₹2 lakh and a citation, has been instituted by the charitable Jyoti-Protap Education Trust based at Kaliapani in eastern Assam’s Jorhat district. It will be conferred on Mr. Reddy in January 2025.
Also Read: Meet Jadav Payeng, India’s Forest Man, who created 550 hectares of forest single-handedly
A five-member selection committee comprising green activists and academics announced the award on Thursday (November 7) and said Mr. Reddy was chosen “for his outstanding environmental stewardship and climate action”.
The trust issued a statement saying, “Mr. Karunakar Reddy has pioneered water conservation and management, land restoration and forestation, disaster relief, food security, and climate change awareness and action.”
Nagaon-based environmental activist Rituraj Phukan, a selection committee member, said Mr. Reddy is known as the ‘Water Man and Green Man of South India’ and has been working for water conservation and management for more than 15 years now.
“He is also known as the Crisis Man of India for his contributions to disaster relief and management in areas affected by climate change. The committee deemed it apt to confer the award on him,” he said.
The Jyoti-Protap Education Trust runs the Jyoti-Pratap Gyanmarg Vidyalaya founded by businessman and philanthropist Protap Saikia. The digitally equipped school provides free education and has 182 students in classes up to six.
The trust also manages a crematorium, an old age home, and an orphanage that Mr. Saikia built.
“Awards are usually named after renowned people who are no more. By instituting this award, the trust wanted to honour Mr. Payeng during his lifetime and motivate people to conserve nature,” he said.
“Not felling is like planting a tree”
Mr. Payeng, a Padma Shri awardee, said he was touched by the trust’s gesture. “The award in my name will motivate me to work harder for society,” he said.
“I am known for raising a forest but I know I have not done a fraction of what countless birds and animals do by greening the earth their way. I do not ask humans to plant trees because other beings are constantly at it. They can do this earth a favour by not felling trees,” he said.
Mr. Phukan said the 550-acre forest that Mr. Payeng created on a Brahmaputra sandbar in the Jorhat district is the only man-made green space that houses the tiger, one-horned rhinoceros, and Asiatic elephants.
“All these animals have come on their own from protected areas nearby. Nobody transported or translocated them,” he said.
