In a proud moment for Odisha and India’s tribal communities, President Droupadi Murmu will tomorrow present the Padma Shri to Dr. Mahendra Kumar Mishra, a distinguished linguist, folklorist, and educationist whose four-decade-long mission has breathed new life into endangered tribal languages and cultures.
The first Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Ganatantra Mandap will see the President confer 66 Padma Awards, including 58 Padma Shri honours. Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and other dignitaries will grace the occasion.
Born on April 1, 1952, in the tribal heartland of Kalahandi, Dr. Mishra has dedicated his life to integrating India’s rich indigenous knowledge systems into modern education. After earning his PhD from Sambalpur University in 1987, he served in Odisha’s Directorate of Elementary Education and later as State Coordinator for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes education. His groundbreaking work in Multilingual Education (MLE) has transformed how tribal children learn — by making their mother tongues the medium of instruction rather than a barrier.
Under his leadership, Odisha pioneered MLE programmes in 21 tribal languages between 1996 and 2012. These initiatives were later scaled to Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, and Assam through the Language and Learning Foundation. His innovative teacher training programme “Rupantar” equips educators to teach in mother tongues while connecting schools with local knowledge and community wisdom. His seminal book Erai Erai: Multilingual Education in Tribal Schools of India (2023) captures this transformative journey and aligns closely with UNESCO guidelines, NCERT, and the National Education Policy 2020.
Beyond classrooms, Dr. Mishra is a passionate preserver of oral traditions. He has documented and published works such as Oral Epics of Kalahandi (2007), Saora Tales and Songs (2005), Paharia Oral Tradition (2021), and Ramkatha in Oral Tradition of Odisha (2025). He has also translated Finland’s epic Kalevala into Odia, building bridges between global and indigenous literary traditions. His efforts safeguard the cosmology, myths, and songs of tribes including Gond, Santali, Kondh, Paharia, Saora, and Banjara, while integrating them into school and higher education curricula.
Internationally acclaimed, Dr. Mishra has advised Nepal’s MLE policy, lectured at prestigious institutions across China, South Korea, Thailand, and Russia, and represented Indian culture with UNESCO in Bangladesh. He serves on key bodies at Sahitya Akademi, including the Language Development Board and Centre for Tribal Oral Literature.
This Padma Shri adds to his long list of honours, which includes the UNESCO International Mother Language Award (first Indian recipient), Finland’s Kalevala Award (2002), Madhya Pradesh’s Veer Shankar Shah Raghunath Shah Award (2009), and the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award (1999).
Dr. Mishra’s recognition celebrates not just an individual, but the enduring spirit of India’s tribal heritage finding its rightful place in the nation’s progress.
