Sri Vijaya Puram, Feb 15: The ceremony was conducted on 15th Feb, being the birth anniversary of Late Mr. Samir Acharya Samhita Veda Acharya, daughter of Samir Acharya introduced the guests to the legendary Samir Acharya’s contributions to the islands as a world renowned environmentalist.
While Mr. Denis Giles, a close associate of Mr. Acharya walked through the achievements of Mr. Acharya and Ms. Madhuri Mondal. This year the Ms. Madhuri was selected for the award due to her passionate work with the Wandoor Panchayat. She has done a pioneer work in management of sanitary and menstrual waste in the islands.
Through a conservative estimate Wandoor GP generated 3750 pads every month. Madhuri and her team saw that the incinerators in Andaman for sanitary waste were non-functional and the incinerators of small capacity generate harmful gases which can lead to issues for sanitation workers. They saw reduction of menstrua waste as the only right way to move forward for our small and eco-sensitive islands. She trained her team, the Youth Ambassadors, ASHA and Anganwadi workers to talk about sustainable menstrual products in the community. In the last one and half years, the team has introduced sustainable menstrual products over 1200 women in South Andaman out of which atleast 400 women have already shifted to using sustainable menstrual products like menstrual cups, period panties and cloth pads reducing the generation of non-biodegradable sanitary napkins in our islands significantly
Samhita mentioned in her speech that menstrual waste is a topic most people avoid and consider a taboo and Ms. Madhuri being the Environmental Crusader that she is, has worked diligently in this field and brought humungous change in the environment. And this impact would reflect on future generations too.
The award was given away by Mrs. Geetanjali Acharya, wife of Mr. Samir Acharya and Mrs. Pushpanjali Raju, Madam Acharya’s sister.
The guests included eminent personalities like past awardees Mr. Chanchal Singha Roy and Mr. Mohammad Hussain, along with famous press personalities Mr. Sanjib Kumar Roy and Mr. Denis Giles, in the presence of Mrs. Meeta Biswas, and Mr. Anand Rao, from ANET and Mr. Farooq Alam.
The late Mr. Samir Acharya is survived by his wife Mrs. Geetanjali Acharya and his daughter Samhita Veda Acharya along with his grandson Mr. Marvelous Giles.
