Guwahati, Jan 27: Padma Shri recipient Pratima Baruah thanked the Central and State Government, on Saturday, expressing her pride as a child of Assam, on receiving the recognition.

In her statement, she said that the award was not just for her but a recognition for the entire state of Assam.

“I felt very relieved, I thank the Central Government and the State Government because I am a child of Assam. This award is not for me but for the whole of Assam, that’s why I felt excited. Since I was 14 years old, I have worked in elephant capturing and continued doing this work. I have great love for elephants and animal,” she said.

Parbati Baruah, 67, widely recognised as ‘Elephant Girl’ (Hasti Kanya) in Assam, has been honoured with the ‘Padma Shri’ making her India’s first female mahout, or elephant keeper.

Born in the Gauripur royal family in the Goalpara district of Assam, Baruah, along with her father Prakritish Barua, captured their first elephant when she was just 14 years old in the Kachugaon woods of Kokrajhar district.

For over 40 years, she dedicated herself to addressing and mitigating human-elephant conflicts, challenging gender stereotypes in a profession historically dominated by men. Baruah played a crucial role in developing government regulations to manage such conflicts, which have a long-standing history in Assam.

With over four decades of continuous service as a mahout, Baruah shifted her focus to animal conservation and is currently a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Asian Elephant Specialist Group (IUCN).

This ‘Padma Shri’ is the second such honour for her family, as her sister, renowned folk singer Pratima Pandey Barua, had previously received the award.

Read: Prime Minister Narendra Modi extends birthday wishes to Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma

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