Dhamtari Collector Avinash Mishra recently honoured Income Tax Inspector Tumnachand Sahu and his wife Ranjita, a Government school teacher, for their extraordinary grassroots service in education, environment, and social empowerment — but their story is not one of privilege, it is built on pain, perseverance, and purpose. Born in the remote village of Bhaismundi in Dhamtari district, Tumnachand lost his father during high school and was pushed into extreme poverty.

 

He worked as a manual labourer while continuing his studies, lifting bricks by day and reading by night. A newspaper once ran a headline: “A labourer crea over 21,000 kg to date. They’ve donated more than 30 Gir cows, 3000 sandalwood saplings, 1100 papaya plants, and built a 30-lakh litre farm pond to harvest rainwater and support biodiversity. Tumnachand reflects, “Twenty years ago, I was working as a labourer in Raipur. Today, as I glanced at the exam results, those memories returned. So many students today have emerged from struggle — children of rickshaw pullers, newspaper vendors, those battling poverty or illness. They didn’t give up, and they made it. Courage gives wings, and such children are the ones who create history. I salute each one of them.”