Archery coach Purnima Mahato and environmental activist Chami Murmu has been named as Padma awardees from State this year. While , Tata Archery Academy coach Purnima Mahato has dedicated the Padma Shri award to her family for their support throughout her sporting career, Chami Murmu said that it is recognition  for her fight protecting environment. Mahto said, I did not expect this (Padma Shri) and thought someone was kidding with me when I received a call from the Union home ministry on Thursday. Mahato, an archer-turned-coach, began playing at the age of 10 and gained attention when she was part of the Indian recurve team that won gold in the team event at the International Archery Championship (now known as Asia Cup) in Bangkok in 1993. Since then, she has represented India in various championships, including the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. At the age of 18, Mahato joined Tata Steel in 1994 on a sports quota and became the coach of Tata Archery Academy in 2000. Since then, Mahato has nurtured several archers who have achieved international recognition, including ace woman recurve archer Deepika Kumari. Expressing gratitude to the government for nominating her for the award, her employer Tata Steel, archers, and supporters, Mahato said the award will certainly motivate her further and she will continue to give her best to earn recognition for the state of Jharkhand and the country. Chami Murmu (52), an environmental activist from Saraikela Kharsawan district of Jharkhand, mobilised hundreds of women in her area, against the wishes of the male residents, to plant trees in more than 500 villages. After 36 years of hard work and planting more than 28 lakh trees, she has been selected for this years Padma Shri from Jharkhand, the Central government announced on Thursday. I feel extremely honoured to be getting the award. It gives me an impetus to keep doing what I started in 1988, she media persons from her village Bhursa, where she was born, in Rajajinagar block of Saraikela Kharsawan. Among the trees that she has planted are Eucalyptus, Sal, Acacia, which are good sources of firewood, and Neem, Sheesham trees, which are used for making furniture. Chami, a class 10 passout, faced tragedy at an early age when she lost her father and elder brother. She became the sole guardian of her three siblings and an ailing mother. Her journey as an environmental activist began in 1988 when she attended a meeting, held in a village 80 km away from her home, on job opportunities. She, along with 23 other women from her village, left for the meeting with a hope to learn how a woman can make things work for her family and uplift its economic condition. She said she returned home brimming with ideas. Chami realised that many villagers did not have coal as a cooking fuel option and were cutting trees for the purpose. I could see vast tracts of barren land in my area and started planting trees. The male members of my village did not approve of a woman starting something like this. I had arguments at home and eventually, I moved to my brothers house. There, I started working with my brother as a labourer in the fields, earning a livelihood and at the same time working for nature, said Chami.

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