Tulasi Munda | |
|---|---|
 Munda in 2011 | |
| Born | 15 July 1947 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Other names | Tulasi Apa |
| Occupation(s) | Educator, social activist |
| Known for | Contribution to education among adivasis (indigenous populations) |
| Awards | Padma Shri (2001) |
Tulasi Munda (born 15 July 1947) is a social activist from the Indian state of Odisha. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2001 by Government of India for her contribution to spreading literacy among the impoverished adivasi peoples of Odisha.[1] Munda started an informal school in 1964 in Odisha's iron ore mining area to educate children from local adivasi populations, who would otherwise have ended up as child labour in the mines. She had been a child labourer in the mines of Keonjhar herself.[2]
Munda is illiterate and has no formal education.[3] She belongs to the Munda ethnic group of adivasis, the collective term in mainland South Asia for indigenous peoples.
She is popularly known as "Tulasi Apa", literally meaning "Sister Tulasi" in Odia.
- ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
- ^ S., Lekshmi Priya (15 May 2017). "12 Facts About Tulasi Apa, the Odisha Woman Who Taught 20,000+ Children in 50 Years". The Better India. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ Tewary, Amarnath (27 March 2000). "Illiterate Herself, She Brings Education To Fellow Tribals". Outlook India. Archived from the original on 13 February 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2019.